


Stand By Me

by CloudyWolf



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XV
Genre: MT! Prompto, P! Cor, papa cor, prompbro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-07-01 04:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15766224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudyWolf/pseuds/CloudyWolf
Summary: While out on a mission, the Marshal, Cor Leonis, stumbles upon an imperial child. Giving in to his parental instincts, Cor takes the boy in as his own, becoming the main guardian for the boy. The struggles the two face together would only bond the duo, creating an everlasting connection that the imperial boy couldn’t get elsewhere.





	1. Chapter 1

His eyes flutter open. The room was now an orange shade. The sky must have changed colours. How long was he out for? His vision was blurry and he tried to correct it to no avail. As a matter of fact, he felt different completely. He couldn’t correct his vision or his sight. His torso felt sore and tender in places. He moved his hand to feel the tender skin and his heart dropped. His ports were missing. They’re gone. No trace. He heard muffled voices coming from behind the door. Only one in which he recognised. The one he recognised was the one that wanted him to follow. They both sounded angry. He lifts his head to try to find the bodies in which the voices are coming from. Instead, his eyes land on a bloodied tray scattered with bloodied scalpels and equipment. Next to that, was his ports. Did the one who wanted him to follow have them removed? Is this what he meant by tests? Was this his correction? Seeing his ports dismembered from his body made him feel sick and he placed a hand over his mouth. Just then, the door opens and he lays his head back down on the pillow, his hand still over his mouth. The one who wanted him to follow came in along with someone in a white lab coat. The one who wanted him to follow went to sit in a chair beside him. A callused hand resting just above his head on the pillow. 

“Hey bud, you awake?” Cor says. His face held a look of anger. 

He didn’t know what else to say, so he just stared at him. 

With a sigh, Cor drops his head and mutters something under his breath. He lifts his head back up and their eyes meet. 

“I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m so sorry, kid...” 

Why was Cor apologising? He should be the one apologising. He’s the one that needs to be obedient. He’s the one that made all those mistakes. He’s the one that needed the corrections. 

With another half a minute of apologies and no answers, Cor stood up. 

“You hungry, boy? Here, eat up.” 

Just then, he realised the one with the lab coat was holding something. A bar wrapped in a tight paper package. 

Cor grabs the bar from the one with the lab coat and then takes his seat again aside the bed. He tossed the bar on the bed. 

“Eat it. Trust me. I know you must be hungry.” 

He didn’t understand. He already felt queasy just knowing his ports weren’t there. He didn’t want to eat something that may make him vomit like the previous incident. But he didn’t want to disobey Cor either. Cor had been nothing but nice to him, despite all of him mess ups. He wanted to keep Cor for as long as he could. He finally felt easy enough to say something. 

“Sustenance?” He said, his eyes looking at the bar Cor placed on the bed. 

“No, it’s called food. Remember what I showed you with the water? It’s the same thing...” 

Cor grabbed the bar, ripped open the packaging and took a bite of the corner. He chewed and swallowed it. 

“See? Like that. Now you.”

He passed the bar back to the boy. Now it was his turn. He gulped and stared at the bar. Only when Cor placed a hand on his shoulder, he got the confidence to take a bite. It was a small bite coming from the opposite corner Cor took from. He didn’t chew, he just let it roll down his throat. He began to cough, coughing it back up into his mouth. 

After a long sigh, Cor spoke. “No. Slowly. Remember, chew...” 

Chew. Chew. He tried again, this time clamping his teeth down on the bit of food before swallowing. He felt his stomach churn as it went down. At least this one didn’t smell as bad as the last one. 

“There. Good. Now, be careful. Eat slow.”

He looked at Cor then back at the bar. So far, it didn’t make him vomit. He tried another bite, doing the same thing as last time. He was able to hold this one down too. 

It took him almost a half hour to eat something that would normally take someone five minutes. But he did it. Within that time, the person with the white lab coat had left and Cor had left numerous times through the duration of his meal. Every time he did, he heard muffled voices from the other side of the door. For some reason, he couldn’t tune his hearing to hear what they were saying. It must have something to do with his correction. Maybe he is defected. He sat up in the bed and his head felt heavy, but not like he was going to faint. 

“S-Sir?” He said in a weak voice. 

At that, Cor turned around from what he was doing at the desk and crossed his arms across his chest. He looked angry. 

“Yes, boy?” Cor said. 

The boy’s eyes glance over at the ports. They were cleaned as he was eating so now they rest on a clean tray. 

Cor notices his glare and his expression goes from angry to sympathetic. 

“Ah, Yes. You don’t need those, boy... so we removed them.” Cor said. He didn’t know how else to put it. “And I told you not to call me sir. It’s Cor, remember? No sirs.” 

No answer. 

 

“You feeling okay?” Cor asked, approaching the foot of the bed. 

He nodded. His head felt heavy and he was sore but other than that, he felt fine. 

“You thirsty?” Cor asked, pointing to a glass on the desk. 

The boy again, nodded and Cor retrieved the glass, handing it to him. He sipped on the water slowly as he did previously. Cor sat on the foot of the bed this time, watching him as he drank. His face still had an angry look on it and he felt as if he were doing something wrong. 

“I bet you’re wondering what happened to you while you were out, Correct?” 

Again, no answer so Cor just continued. 

“They thought you were going to attack them. They thought your refusal to remove the glasses was a threat. Especially when you stood up. They struck you in the back of the head and you blacked out. They then began their operations. I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone.” 

While he talked about it, he got more angry. The boy just looked down at his legs covered by the blankets, tuning Cor’s story out. What will he do now that he’s defective? Will they destroy him? Will Cor get rid of him? So many questions ran through his head. 

His thoughts were broken up by Cor’s voice. 

“Hey, are you listening to me? Hm, never mind. Forget it...” Cor paused. “Say, I’ve been thinking about your name while you were out, boy...” Cor said. His sentence was broken. 

Just then, he remembered the list Cor had given him and he went to grab it from his pocket but it wasn’t there. He lost the list. He surely would get a correction for that. 

“I-I’m Sorry, Cor. I-I lost the list.” He said, preparing himself for the correction.

Cor only smiled. 

Smiled? Why was he smiling? He lost the list. Why would he be happy about that?

“Don’t worry about it boy. I have it.” Cor pulled the list out of his pocket and relief washed over the boy. Cor handed the list back to him and he looked back over it. He couldn’t comprehend any of the names so how was he supposed to pick one? 

Cor began to speak again. “Like I was saying, I’ve been thinking about what your name should be and I want your input, kid. Okay?” 

Was that an order? If it was, it was an easy one. He just nodded and tuned in to what Cor had to say. 

“I’ve been thinking about the names on the list and I’ve narrowed it down to two. Georgie and Prompto. Which one do you like kid? It’s your name after all.” 

Georgie and Prompto? What do those mean? No, he’s 0595— Ugh, why can’t he remember it. Was he getting a new designation? He didn’t want Cor to get upset with him because he couldn’t make up his mind. Although, he didn’t know what it meant, one really did stand out to him. Prompto. He looked up at Cor, his eyes holding a look of confusion. 

Cor sighed. “ I’m not asking you to choose now, I just want you to thin—“ 

He interrupted Cor. He didn’t mean to, he just wanted Cor to know that he was listening. He was thinking about it. He made his decision. He chose his name. 

“Prompto. I want Prompto.” 

Cor smiled. “Prompto, kid? Then it’s settled...” 

Cor stood up and went to sit back down in his chair aside the bed. He held out a hand to the boy. 

“Its a pleasure to meet you, Prompto.”


	2. Chapter 2

_Infiltrate the base. Infiltrate the base and shut down the main power line. Infiltrate the base and get out of there alive. Don’t do anything stupid. Get out of there alive._

The sun was just about to set when they arrived at their reconnaissance point. It was just the three of them. Three men, appointed by the king, to take down the five most secure imperial bases in Lucis. It wasn’t going to be an easy mission. Cid Sophiar was the oldest of the three. He was the first to be appointed but one of the last expected to come out of this mission alive. Next came Clarus Amicitia. House Amicitia are sworn protectors of the king and would do anything to protect the King and his family so he was an obvious choice for this mission. Lastly, came Cor Leonis. Cor joined the crowns guard when he was only 13. He was nicknamed the immortal because of his insane tactics in battle and how, even at a very young age, can come out of any battle unscathed. He is now the Kings Marshal. 

They rested at a nearby camp waiting for the sun to fall. It would be a suicide mission, even for the Immortal, Cor, if they were to attack the base during the day. This was their last base before they can return home. If they can pull this off successfully, their mission would be deemed complete and they could finally get to return to the crown city. Cid was posted on reconnaissance. While the others were huddled near the fire, roasting the little bit of food they had left over the open flames, Cid sat near the edge of the haven, observing the base with his binoculars. The haven they were camped at over looked the base from the front. They had quite the look out from where they were at. They could see all movement from inside the base with Cid’s binoculars. They even caught sight of the imperial chancellor from time to time. 

“Hey, Cid, the foods ready. Come eat your last meal before Clarus does.” Cor yelled out the teasing phrase to Cid who hardly heard a word he said. Cid was too focused on observing the activity within the base. With a sigh, Cor stood up, shoved a Trevally fillet on a paper plate, along with some potatoes, and approached Cid, throwing the plate of unorganised food on his lap. 

“Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are you doing?!” Cid exclaimed as he caught one of the falling potatoes in his hands. “I’ve just caught sight of something!” He rested his eyes back in the binocular. 

At that, Cor plucked the binoculars away from Cid, stashing them away in his jacket pocket. “Oh shut it. You’ve been saying that for the last hour. Of course you’ll see something, idiot. You’re watching an active base...” Cor huffed. “Now eat up. It may be the last thing you’ll eat.” Cor began to make his way back to his chair when he heard Cid’s voice from behind him. 

“My observations could mean the difference between life or death! What do you want us to do? Go in there blind? We need to watch the activity going on from within the base if we want to make it out alive. The imperial chancellor is in there! If we can manage to capture and kill him, we will come out heroes! Heroes Cor!...” He paused. “Are you even listening to me?” 

Clarus’ voice can be heard mumbling something incomprehensible. ‘Heroes’ was the only word Cor could make out. He just rolled his eyes.

Cor sat back down in his chair, took a bite of the fillet and rested his eyes on the sunset. 

“I hear you, Cid. We are already heroes regardless of what happens in there. We have already taken down four of the highest security bases in Lucis. Is that not enough for you? Now shut up and eat. We will be leaving soon.” 

Cid sat there quietly, eating what could be his last meal. Upon his third bite, he spoke again. “Can I at least have my binoculars back?” 

Cor groaned and took them out of his pocket, throwing them at Cid. Cid reached out to catch them, nearly dropping his plate. He mumbled a sarcastic thank you under his breath and began to eat again. 

Cor couldn’t help but muster up a small smile.

~

The sun had gone down and it was about time for the three to set out. They packed up their camp, storing away their chairs in the trunk of their car. Clarus stomped on the last remaining embers of their fire. 

“All set, guys? This will be a tough one. I can feel it.” Clarus said as he combed his fingers through his hair. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Cid said, stretching out his back. “Just knowing that the chancellor is in there gives me chills. We can not afford to lose this base. Lucis is in our hands.”

Cor couldn’t help but agree. “Yeah. It is and if we don’t get moving now, we won’t have time to work our way through the base before sunrise. Now let’s go.”

The three men jumped inside of their car. Cor was the one driving, Clarus riding shotgun, and Cid rode in the back. 

“Let’s come out heroes boys! Aha!” Clarus raised a fist up in the air. His voice held enthusiasm as if they were heading out to a spring break party. “Let’s kick some imperial ass!” 

It was a short drive until they were down in front of the base. They parked their car amongst the scrubs to avoid detection. The three climbed out, closing the doors very quietly. Cor made a few hand motions and the other two took notice. 

“Okay. Listen up. We need to make our way in undetected. After that, we need to make our way to the power supply of the base, shutting it down completely. Then it would be a cakewalk from there. The imperials would then have no power supply and we take out the ones that have their last remaining power. Lastly, will be the hardest and most dangerous. We have to track down the chancellor. The king wants him alive but do whatever you can to get him in our grasp. Got it? Now, Move out.” Cor commanded in a whispered. 

The three made their way around the walls of the base until they found a lookout tower. They huddled in close to discuss a tactic. 

“Cor and Cid, you take out the guy in the tower. I’ll take out the two guarding it.” Clarus commanded. 

After a few more discussions, it was time for action. Clarus went first, sneaking up behind two imperial axemen. He pulled out two daggers and struck them both in the back of the neck with the blunt end. The soldiers collapse and malfunction. Clarus then gave the signal for the other two. Cor goes first, followed by Cid. They stealthily make their way up the metal stairs until they were a half flight till the top. Cor, being the tallest, peaked his head up over the edge to take a look at where the imperial was. He had his back turned toward a small control panel. Now was their chance. He motioned for Cid to take action. Cid crept up behind the soldier, taking him out easily. Cor finished the climb and took a look at the control panel. 

“Hmm... So many damn switches. How can those robots control these?” Cor asked. 

“Because they aren’t average robots. They are made with ‘magic technology’ hence the name, Magitek. That’s why they operate and act like humans.” Cid explained. 

Cor huffed and lifted a finger to flick a switch when Cid interrupted, grabbing his hand. 

“Wait. Not yet.” 

Cor paused. 

“Look...” 

They looked over the edge of the tower to see Clarus in a readied position. A dozen or two Imperial soldiers began to surround him. 

“God damn it. We are found —“ Cor was interrupted by a sounding siren, followed along with red flashing lights. The two rushed back down the tower to Clarus who was backing away from the dozen soldiers. They all huddled back to back, preparing for the attack. 

“Have each other’s backs, Okay?” Cor said. 

“You bet, Marshal.” The other two replied before launching themselves at the magitek troopers. 

The battle was bloody and hardly got anywhere. They were outnumbered by the imperial troops with even more approaching. 

Clarus spoke amongst the battle. “Retreat? We have to retreat Cor. If we don’t, this will be —“ 

Cor was furious at this point. They had a mission and they were to finish it. No exceptions. 

“No retreat. We push them back as much as we can. If our fate is death today, then hell, let it be. I will protect my king and the people of Lucis.”

His words lit a fire within them all. They fought their hardest, taking down numerous soldiers. They were on top of it all when tragedy struck. 

“Cid!” Cor heard Clarus yell from amongst the destruction. He turned his head to see Cid on the ground and imperials surrounding him. 

“For gods sake, Cid!” Cor rushed over to him, plowing down the soldiers in his path. Just as he made it to Cid, an imperial jabs it’s weapon through Cid’s leg. Cid wails out an agonising screech. His pants began to turn a crimson red from the blood. Cor pushed the imperial off of Cid but it was already too late. The damage was done. He picked up Cid, putting him over his shoulder and carried him to a safe point behind the tower, leaving Clarus to fend off the last remaining soldiers by himself. He tended to Cid’s leg, tearing the bottom hem of his shirt to use as a tourniquet. He wrapped it tightly around his leg, restricting the blood flow. 

“Stay here.” Cor insisted. 

“It’s not like I can go anywhere...” Cid said sarcastically, holding his wound. “Go get ‘em, Marshal.” 

Cor got up and ran back to where he left Clarus. Clarus had killed all of the remaining. Cor left out a sigh of relief when he saw that his companion was safe. All that was left was rust and bolts and the black sticky residue of imperial blood. Clarus was knelt down beside a human like figure. As Cor approached, he realised the figure was a boy. An imperial boy around the age of eight. Cor looked down at the boy, kneeling down beside him. The life was vanishing through his devilish black and red eyes. The young boy coughed up the same sticky black blood that littered the floor. 

“W-What do we do with him?” Cor spoke, softly. 

Clarus responded. “Hell, I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I’m going to kill it. Child or not. It’s the enemy. It tried to kill Cid!” 

The vision of the imperial who stabbed Cid was vivid in his head. This small child did that to Cid? No. It couldn’t be him. “No, Clarus. That’s no—“

Clarus raised his blade above the boy’s chest. With a huff, he shoves the blade down, the kid clenching his eyes. 

Cor grabbed Clarus’ hand, stopping the blade from piercing the small imperial boy. 

“W-What the hell, Cor?!” Clarus was lost for words. 

“He’s a child. You can’t kill him. Look, he’s hurt. He needs medical attention, now.” Cor placed a hand on the boy’s forehead. He was hot. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Cor. He’s a Niff. He’s bad news.” Clarus tried his best to explain to Cor but his stubbornness wouldn’t budge. 

“Niff or not, he’s still a child. He could be saved.” Without anymore explaining, Cor lifted the imperial child in his arms. He stood up and gave Clarus some instructions.

“Get Cid and meet me back at the car. We can’t continue this mission. Not right now.”

“B-But what about the Chancellor?! This may be our only —“

“The chancellor will die an agonising death. I will be sure of it. Just not today.”

Before letting Clarus get any more words in, Cor turned his back to him and began to make his way out of the base the same way they went in. 

The child was staring at him the whole way back. The boys eyes were fluttering as if he were going to pass out. Cor opened the back door of the car and laid the child down across the back seat. He saw a flicker of life in the boy’s eyes. Something he had never seen from an imperial before. This child, he was different. He could have a chance at a normal life. He could be saved. No, he will be saved. 

Cor hopped into the drivers seat and looked back at the imperial through the rear view mirror. The child’s eyes were now closed but his chest was still rising and falling. 

“It’s alright, kid. You’re safe now. I got you out of that hell...alive.”


	3. Chapter 3

_“Obedience is the mother of success and is wedded to safety” -Aeschylus_

He could hear voices. Unfamiliar voices. Where was he? What happened to him?  
His eyes opened up to a blue sky. He was moving. His body was moving. Or perhaps, the sky was moving. He adjusted his sight to block the blinding light coming from the beautiful blue sky. He wasn’t used to seeing so much light in one place. Never was there anything like it at his previous base. Was this a new training facility? He blinked a few times. Was he outside? But why would he be outside? He’s only a level two. If the directors found him out here, surely, he’d get a correction. 

The voices he heard sounded angry. They were talking amongst each other. He turned his head to see two figures in front of him. Two bodies. That’s where the voices were coming from. He froze when he heard a third angry voice. 

“Guys, he’s waking up!” 

He lifted his head to look behind him. There came the source for the third voice. 

“Pull over, Cor. Pull the car over! I don’t want to be back here with that Niff.!” The third unfamiliar voice said as the body moved as far away from him as it could. 

Within half a minute, he felt the sensation of moving come to a halt. He felt nervous, scared even. Who were these people? Were they his new advisors? Where are they taking him? He heard the sound of doors opening and closing and noticed the two bodies vanish. Then went the third. A minute or two passed and their voices could be heard again, farther away this time. He tuned his hearing so he could hear them clearly. 

“This has got to be the craziest thing you have ever done, Cor! We have a Niff in our god damn car!...” 

Why were his advisors scared of him? Did he do something wrong? Was this his correction? The boy sat up, rubbing his eyes. His head hurt a lot, probably from the moving car, and his stomach hurt. He looked around for the source of voices but couldn’t find them. At least he could still hear them. 

“Look, it’s not what you think. He’s a child. He could be saved. We, the three of us, could save this child. I saw life in his eyes. I swear I—“ 

The boy zoned out the voices. He was more focused on the world around him. So majestic. So serene. He had never seen or experienced anything like this. The outside world was so... Beautiful. He wanted to take as much of it in as he could.

Without his knowledge, the figures returned, startling the boy. The three figures jumped when they saw his eyes gleaming both red and black. Completely lifeless. 

“Yeah, you definitely saw life in him, Cor. Look at his eyes. He’s an Imperial. An Im-per-i.al.” One of the men said. 

The boy looked confused. There was no reason to fear him. He was only a level two. He hadn’t even been properly trained yet. The only reason why he was in the midst of the base infiltration was because they were transporting him and a couple of his peers. 

“What’s your name?” Another voice said. 

The boy again, didn’t understand. My name? My name. Are they talking about his production code? 

“0595—“ He paused. “0595–“ He couldn’t remember his code. He was forced to remember it by his creator. How could he possibly forget it? Now that, deserves a correction. He was sure of it. He rubbed his tired eyes trying to remember. 

Another one of the figures spoke. “See, Cor? He doesn’t even have a name. He’s spitting out some kind of code at us..” 

“He can’t be saved. There’s no way.” Another said. The voices began to sound like a bunch of nonsense. The boy couldn’t make out what they were saying with all three of them talking at once. His head began to spin even more, making him more nauseous. He didn’t know how else to express it, other than to put a hand over his mouth. 

“He’s going to vomit. Watch out!” Another figure said just as he lost control. He coughed up a black sticky consistency, the same stuff from the base. The world began to get fuzzy. The world was spinning around him and he couldn’t make it stop. 

“My car! My beautiful car!” The voice was muffled.

Then, the whole world stopped. It faded to white, then black and his whole body collapsed back down on the seats. 

~

“What are you going to do with him? You can’t exactly bring him back. The chancellor won’t welcome him back with open arms, ya know...” 

The world began to reshape around him again as he regained his consciousness. He was lying down on something soft. Something comfortable. Something he had never felt before. He kept his eyes closed, listening in on the voice. The voice he heard, was a familiar one. One he heard before the world stopped. Before his world stopped.

“I know, I’ll take care of him for the time being. I will get him hel— wait, he’s waking up...” 

The voices stopped and even with his eyes closed, he felt the whole room stop to stare at him. He slowly opened one eye, then the other. He was in a different place now. Different from the place he was last at. He was laying down on a bed, the covers were pulled up, covering his legs and half his torso. A figure stood in front of him at the foot of the bed. 

“Hey kid, you alright? You awake?” One of the people from before spoke.

Was that an order? The kid just stared at him.

“Does he understand you?” Another voice said. 

“Of course he does. He’s a child. He’s responded before.” 

He felt uncomfortable with all these unfamiliar people in the room. He had no clue where he was at or why. 

“If you could understand me, nod your head.” One of the familiar voices said. 

He understood this one. The boy nodded his head. The whole room stared at him in awe. 

“See? He understands.” A familiar voice said. The man came and sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“You’re confused, Correct? Want to know where you are, kid?” 

The boy, once again, nodded his head. “Y-Yes sir.” 

The man sitting on the bed responded.  
“You’re at my place...” 

The boy looked confused so the man continued. “My home? The place I live? Stay? I’ll be looking after you until we figure out what to do with you. Do you understand?” 

Although he didn’t quite understand him, he answered. “Y-yes sir.”

The man groaned. “And I don’t want any of that while you’re with me. No sirs here. Got it? The names Cor. Call me Cor.” 

“Yes s— I mean, Yes Cor.” The boy’s eyes glisten when he examines the man. Who was this man and why does he want him to call him Cor? Is he his new director? 

“You hungry kid?” The man asked.

The boy tilted his head. He didn’t understand. 

“Hungry. Food? No?” The man asked. 

“I-I don’t underst—“ Just then, a lightbulb went off in his head. “Oh! Sustenance?” 

It took the man a while to respond. “Uh, yeah. That. You need that?” 

The boy found it quite odd that his director didn’t know what sustenance was but he brushed it off. He was feeling quite light headed but from the looks of the room he was in, it seemed no sustenance was around. He lifted up his shirt to reveal the port in which is used to feed him. The man looked amused. 

“Is that how they feed you.. erm, give you sustenance?” The man asked. 

The boy nodded his head. “Yes, Cor.” He wanted Cor to think he was obedient so he wouldn’t get rid of him. He was nicer than his previous director. He seemed to care about him. He wanted to keep him around for a long time. 

The man stood up. “Well, I’ll see what I can do. I don’t exactly cook...” 

The boy watched as the man got up from the bed. He forced the rest of the people in the room out, leaving only him and the familiar man by the name of Cor. He went to the left of the room where a silver metal desk resided. He picked up a book and carried it over to the boy, resting it down on the side table. 

“Can you read, kid? If you’re bored, feel free. You may be here awhile.” 

This must be another one of his strange commands. The boy could read numbers perfectly fine. It’s words that give him trouble. He just agreed. 

Cor just sighed. 

“You’ll need a name kid. I’m tired of calling you kid. Do you have any in mind?” 

The boy responded. “It’s 0595–“ He still couldn’t remember it. He sighed. “W-What do you want to call me, Cor?” 

Cor thought for a moment. “I don’t know. That’s up to you. It’s your name. You think about it okay? Let me know in the morning. I’ll let you get some sleep.” 

The man got up and walked to the door. 

“I’ll see you in the morning, kid. Sweet dreams.” 

And with that, he left. The boy looked over at the book that the man had placed down. He picked it up and tried to make out the words on the cover. He quietly read the words to himself. 

“Home. Sweet. Home...”


	4. Chapter 4

_“Royalty is completely different than celebrity. Royalty has a magic all its own.”  
\- Phillip Treacy _

The morning glow woke the boy. The suns gentle rays seeped through the gaps in the curtains, warming his skin. He sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. He was expecting to wake up in an unfamiliar place but no, he was in the same bed in the same room with the same book he was trying to read on his lap. He looked around the room to find the man named Cor, but he wasn’t there. He felt Cor’s familiar presence nearby but he wasn’t in the room. The boy tuned his hearing to see if he could hear where his ‘director’ was. 

All he got was muffled voices. They must be far away or at least a couple rooms over. He slid out of bed, his bare feet felt cold against the wood panelling of the floor. He took a few steps away from the bed and stopped. His head began to spin. He began to lose stability against the spinning world around him. He turned around, trying to find the bed again but he couldn’t. He couldn’t make out where it was. The silhouette of the bed would be in front of him, then vanish. Then in front of him again, then gone. It was spinning with the room. He took one step toward the direction of the bed and lost his balance, knocking into a side table. The contents on top of it, shattering on the floor. He was on his knees now, the spinning world coming to a halt. He could actually see again. His eyes met the shattered contents on the floor when he heard voices approaching. They sounded angry. He was going to get a correction for that. 

“No more walking...” He thought to himself. He couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t able to maintain his balance. He must be defected. He was knelt on the floor when the door opened and the angry voices came in. Five people came in to the room, all yelling amongst each other. “Kill the Niff.” “He was trying to escape.” “Hes going to hurt us.” “End the boy.” That was all he could make out from the angry voices. The boy sat there, his blackened eyes looking down at the feet, awaiting his correction. 

“Hey bud, you alright?” A familiar person emerged from the crowd, crouching down next to him. It was the man named Cor. Cor placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, comforting him. The boy looked up at him. His eyes held a sad glow. He knew he blew it with this director. 

“Get out! Everyone!” The man said, standing up. “You’re scaring him. Just get out. I’ll deal with it.” He ushered the five angry bodies out the door, closing it behind them. 

He could still hear their angry rants from behind the door. The man approached him again. “You alright, Kid? What happened?” Cor said, his eyes glancing over at the shattered mess on the floor. He picked the boy up, placing him back on the bed. “You’re not hurt are you? What happened?” 

He wasn’t sure how he should respond. He only said what he could think of at the moment. “I-I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to- I didn’t mean to knock it over. Ill clean it up. I was just trying to—“ He stopped talking when the man moved. 

“It’s okay, Kid. It’s not your fault. I’ll clean it up. Don’t worry about it.” Cor knelt down to pick up the bigger shards of the shattered furniture. He held them in his hands before placing them on top of the table. “Ill be back. You just sit right there, Okay? Don’t move.” 

Now, that was an easy order. “Yes, sir.” The boy said. 

“No sirs, got it? It’s Cor, remember?” With that, Cor stood up, and left the room. 

He returned momentarily with a dust pan and broom. In a snap, he had the mess all cleaned up, as if something had never even happened. Oh, how he wished that was true. Now that the mess was cleaned up, he knew he was going to get his correction. Hell, with all the times he’s messed up within these few days, he may even get a new director. Just the thought made him sad. 

“Why the long face, boy?” He perked up when he heard Cor’s voice again. He didn’t answer him. He just stared at his dangling feet. 

“Cat got your tongue? Look...” Cor went to sit beside him, an arm went around the boy’s shoulder. The boy flinched at the affectionate action and the man removed his arm. “...You’re not in trouble, Okay? It’s not your fault. Accidents happen.” 

The boy remained staring at his feet. Why wasn’t he in trouble? Why wasn’t his director mad? And why did his director comfort him? All these questions made the boy’s head spin. 

“C-Cor?” The boy mustered up. 

“Yeah?” Replied Cor. 

“I-I just w-want to thank you. F-For everything.” The boy’s face was flustered at this point. He didn’t know how his director would respond to his thanks. 

Cor just smiled at him. “Don’t mention it, Kid.” The man stood up, helping the kid to his feet. “Now, we have a busy day today. The King, King Regis would like to see you. He would like to ask you a few questions. Do you think you’re up for it?” The man asked. 

Did he have a choice? The King sounded like a high power. He couldn’t possible refuse to speak to him. The boy nodded his head. 

“Good. Now get dressed. There’s a set of clothes on the dresser over there. We will be leaving in a half hour. Got it?” Cor said. 

Another easy command. “Yes, Cor.” 

“There ya go, kid.” At that, the man left the room, leaving the boy all to himself. 

“Get dressed. Get dressed...” The boy approached the dresser and proceeded to obey Cor’s order. 

~

The time had come for them to leave. The boy managed to get dressed with only a few minutes to spare. It was... more difficult than he anticipated. He had trouble figuring out the direction they are supposed to be properly worn. Also, they were a little bit big on him. He and Cor were about to go outside. Outside. The mystical place of wonder where he was previously before. He wanted to take in all of the sights again. The beautiful sky. The different people. He was both excited and nervous. Cor was taking him to talk to the high power, after all. What a day they had planned. 

Cor strapped the boy into the car then got into the drivers seat and proceeds to drive to their destination. The boy looked out the window. So many people. So many different faces. It was weird seeing people wear different things. He’s used to everyone wearing the same thing. He’s used of everyone being uniform. Now they have different faces. Have different hair. It was all new to him. But something was off about them. Something wasn’t quite right but he couldn’t figure it out.

“You thought about a name yet, kiddo?” 

The boy didn’t answer. He just took a break from people watching and closed his eyes, resting them. 

Within an hour, they approached their destination. The vehicle came to a halt and the boy perked up. His eyes widened. In front of him was a huge tower that shot up to the sky. The windows were all stained glass. It had a gothic look to it. He stared at the large building in awe. He had never seen anything like it before. He was caught in the buildings magical trance when Cor’s familiar voice broke it. 

“Hey kid, we are here. Please behave..” he teased as he got out of the car. The door beside the boy opened up and there stood Cor, holding a hand out to him. He took the hand and was pulled up out of the car. Some other familiar voices rang out amongst the hustle and bustle of the street. 

“Hey Cor! What’s up? You still have that Niff by your side?” 

He looked around for the voices and saw two more familiar people. They were the other two with Cor at the infiltration, Clarus and Cid. Cor approached them with a greeting. 

“He’s not a Niff. He’s a kid. Just a kid, alright?” Cor said to the others. The three chatted for a bit until the doors to the enormous building peeled open and everyone paused to look. They all fixed their posture. They now stood up straight with their chins raised. Out came a man, a young man and someone in a suit behind him. He looked about the same age as Cor, maybe slightly older. His eyes held a look of one who was regal. The man in the back must be his servant of some sort. The young mans eyes fell immediately on the boy. He felt uneasy. Who was this man? Why was he staring at him. 

“Ah, Cor. So this is the kid you saved, Correct?” The young man said. He approached Cor, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “You really think you could save him?” 

Cor nodded his head. “Yes, your highness. I really do. I see potential in this kid.” 

Your highness. Was this the king? He wasn’t ready to talk to him. He didn’t know what to say to someone as high as him. 

The young man smiled at Cor then returned his focus to the boy. “What’s your name?” The man asked. 

0595— Oh yeah, he couldn’t remember his number. How was he supposed to answer the King if he didn’t know? His head dropped in shame. Cor spoke up. “He doesn’t have one yet. We are still thinking about it.” 

The King smiled and held out a hand to the boy. “That’s okay. Take your time. Choose a nice name, little one. Anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m King Regis. Welcome to the Citadel.”


	5. Chapter 5

_“The marks humans leave are too often scars." - John Green_

The Citadel. So that’s what this place is called. Is this where the King resides? Is he inside the Kings castle? The boy followed the four men down a couple long, narrow hallways. The walls were covered with old tapestries and paintings. They reached a tall wooden door at the end of one and stopped. The King pushed it open and went into the room, the rest followed suit. Inside the room was a bed dressed in white sheets. There was a green gown folded neatly at its foot. Around the bed were two stools, one on each side. This room was a hospital room of some sort. The King ushered the boy to the bed, picked him up and sat him on it. 

“Don’t worry, we aren’t doing anything yet. We are just going to wait for the doctor, Okay?” The King spoke with a regal tone to his voice. 

The boy nodded his head. Yet? So that means they were going to do something? Were they going to hurt him? Destroy him perhaps?

He was nervous. The last time he was in a room like this, horrible, unspeakable things were done to him. He remembered crying, screaming for help and no one came. All he could do was scream. There was no one around to save him. No guardian angel there to protect him. He was just a toy in their hands. He remembered the needles. All of the tools. So many metal parts. So much blood. His own blood. And everyone’s smiles. He could never forget their smiles. It’s like they enjoyed bringing pain on to him. They enjoyed twisting their blades into his open flesh. They enjoyed hearing his muscles tear apart. They enjoyed stabbing metal parts into his open wounds. Their sick, demented smiles haunted him. He wished to forget those vivid memories. The boy shuttered, and grabbed his wrist. He looked down at his dangling feet. 

A knock came at the door and a man in a white lab coat came in. He introduced himself as Clyde. 

“Look what the dog brought in. Is this the imperial kid?” Clyde said. 

Cor responded. “Yeah. That’s him.” Even Cor’s voice sounded uneasy which made the boy even more nervous. 

“Great, well, first things first, I’ll have to do a full examination...” Clyde paused to turn back to the group. “If I may ask you all to wait outside and give us some privacy, that would be greatly appreciated.” He said with a nod. 

They all were reluctant at first but then slowly made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them. Now it was only Clyde and him. 

“Okay, kid. First off, don’t try anything. I was the only one brave enough to even accept this damn operation. Stay with me, alright?” 

Clyde smiled at the boy but didn’t get one back in return. 

“Okay, now change into this. We need to do a full body examination in order to make sure you’re well enough for the operation...” He grabbed the green gown that was folded on the foot of the bed, tossing it onto the boy’s lap. 

The boy stared at the gown then up at Clyde. He had no choice. He had to obey but he didn’t exactly know how to put it on. The clothes he put on to get over here took him almost an hour. 

"I-I don't know how..." The boy spoke up. 

"Hm?" Clyde turned around. "You don't know how? No big deal, here... I'll help..." 

The boy allowed this to happen. Clyde tugged at the boys shirt, pulling it off over his head, replacing it with the green gown. Then off went his pants. Now, he was ready for the examination. 

"Great..." Clyde walked over to a metal cabinet and pulled out a stainless steel tray and a few tools. He brought the tray over on a metal roller. Once the boy spotted the tray of tools, he began to panick. 

"Those are..." The boy accidently said out loud. 

"Oh these? No no. These aren't to hurt you. These are to help you..." Clyde tried to make his voice sound calm and collected to soothe the boys nerves. Clyde moved the roller behind him and began to do the examination, checking everywhere you could possibly think for malfunctions or deformities that would make the surgery not doable. "Mhmm..." He would him out every couple minutes. The boy was tense, he expected the worst but the worst never came. It was just this man, looking at him, checking him out. Maybe he wasnt going to hurt him. 

"Okay kid, you look great. I'll just record this..." He wrote down his data on a clipboard. "...And I'll be right back. Don't touch anything..." At that, Clyde took the clipboard and left the room. 

The boy let out a sigh of relief. Thank God that was over. He wanted Cor to return. He needed someone to comfort him. 

A half hour goes by and nothing happens. Nobody enters the room. Nobody comes in to check on him. Not even noise from outside the room could be heard. He began to wonder if he was alone in the Citadel. Did everyone leave him here? What was going on? Just then, he heard footsteps. Someone was coming. The door peeled open and in came Clyde. Even though it wasn't Cor, the boy was pleased to see at least one life form in the building. He began to get worried. 

"Hello, Kid. How you doing?" Clyde smiled at him again and, once again, didn't get one back. The kid just wanted to go home. 

"Okay, so we will proceed with the operation now, okay? Follow me..." He held a hand out to the boy and the boy took it. They made their way down the long halls again until they came upon another door. Clyde pushed the door open and they both walked inside. This was another room like the last except this one smelled like antiseptic. 

"Take a seat, Kid." 

The boy obliged. He took a seat on the table. 

Another nurse came in with a roller of tools, the same from the room previously. She passed the roller over to Clyde, not without giving to boy a nasty stare, then walked out. Clyde had a menacing smile on his face as he received the tools. He picked up a needle and filled it with some type of liquid. He flicked the needle twice. 

"Don't worry, this will only hurt a little." Cylde approached the boy and without warnings jabbed the needle into his left arm. The boy let out a yelp and the red in his eyes began to glow. Clyde took a step back. 

"Hey, no need to get all twisted there. I'm only....Here.....to.....hel...." 

Clydes words began to go muffled and the boys vision began to get fuzzy. Whatever that man injected into him was beginning to take effect. Didn't take long at all to kick in. His head felt heavy and he felt as if he hadn't slept in a year. 

"Sleep tight, Nifflheim...." 

That was the last thing he heard before his world went black. He fell back on to the table. Clyde let out a chuckle, putting on some gloves. 

"Time to get this party rolling."

~ 

His eyes flutter open. The room was now an orange shade. The sky must have changed colours. How long was he out for? His vision was blurry and he tried to correct it to no avail. As a matter of fact, he felt different completely. He couldn’t correct his vision or his sight. His torso felt sore and tender in places. He moved his hand to feel the tender skin and his heart dropped. His ports were missing. They’re gone. No trace. He heard muffled voices coming from behind the door. Only one in which he recognised. The one he recognised was Cor. He was so happy to hear Cor's voice. He didn't think he was still here, especially since he passed out for who knows how long. He lifts his head to try to find the bodies in which the voices are coming from. Instead, his eyes land on a bloodied tray scattered with bloodied scalpels and equipment. Next to that, was his ports. Is this what the operation was for? To remove his ports? Is this what he meant by tests? Why would his director do such a thing? Was this his correction? Seeing his ports dismembered from his body made him feel sick and he placed a hand over his mouth. Just then, the door opens and he lays his head back down on the pillow, his hand still over his mouth. Cor came in along with Clyde. His director went to sit in a chair beside him. A callused hand resting just above his head on the pillow. 

“Hey bud, you awake?” Cor says. His face held a look of anger. 

He didn’t know what else to say, so he just stared at him. 

With a sigh, Cor drops his head and mutters something under his breath. He lifts his head back up and their eyes meet. 

“I’m sorry this happened to you. I’m so sorry, kid. They didn't tell me about /this/."

Why was Cor apologising? He should be the one apologising. He’s the one that needs to be obedient. He’s the one that made all those mistakes. He’s the one that needed the corrections. He's the one that is now deformed.

With another half a minute of apologies and no answers, Cor stood up. 

“You hungry, boy? Here, eat up.” 

Just then, he realised the one with the lab coat was holding something. A bar wrapped in a tight paper package. 

Cor grabs the bar from the one with the lab coat and then takes his seat again aside the bed. He tossed the bar on the bed. 

“Eat it. Trust me. I know you must be hungry.” 

He didn’t understand. He already felt queasy just knowing his ports weren’t there. He didn’t want to eat something that may make him vomit like the previous incident. But he didn’t want to disobey Cor either. Cor had been nothing but nice to him, despite all of him mess ups. He wanted to keep Cor for as long as he could. He finally felt easy enough to say something. 

“Sustenance?” He said, his eyes looking at the bar Cor placed on the bed. 

“No, it’s called food. Remember what I showed you with the water? It’s the same thing...” 

Cor grabbed the bar, ripped open the packaging and took a bite of the corner. He chewed and swallowed it. 

“See? Like that. Now you.”

He passed the bar back to the boy. Now it was his turn. He gulped and stared at the bar. Only when Cor placed a hand on his shoulder, he got the confidence to take a bite. It was a small bite coming from the opposite corner Cor took from. He didn’t chew, he just let it roll down his throat. He began to cough, coughing it back up into his mouth. 

After a long sigh, Cor spoke. “No. Slowly. Remember, chew...” 

Chew. Chew. He tried again, this time clamping his teeth down on the bit of food before swallowing. He felt his stomach churn as it went down. At least this one didn’t smell as bad as the last one. 

“There. Good. Now, be careful. Eat slow.”

He looked at Cor then back at the bar. So far, it didn’t make him vomit. He tried another bite, doing the same thing as last time. He was able to hold this one down too. 

It took him almost a half hour to eat something that would normally take someone five minutes. But he did it. Within that time, the person with the white lab coat had left and Cor had left numerous times through the duration of his meal. Every time he did, he heard muffled voices from the other side of the door. For some reason, he couldn’t tune his hearing to hear what they were saying. It must have something to do with his correction. Maybe he is defected. He sat up in the bed and his head felt heavy, but not like he was going to faint. 

“S-Sir?” He said in a weak voice. 

At that, Cor turned around from what he was doing at the desk and crossed his arms across his chest. He looked angry. 

“Yes, boy?” Cor said. 

The boy’s eyes glance over at the ports. They were cleaned as he was eating so now they rest on a clean tray. 

Cor notices his glare and his expression goes from angry to sympathetic. 

“Ah, Yes. You don’t need those, boy... so we removed them.” Cor said. He didn’t know how else to put it. “And I told you not to call me sir. It’s Cor, remember? No sirs.” 

No answer. 

 

“You feeling okay?” Cor asked, approaching the foot of the bed. 

He nodded. His head felt heavy and he was sore but other than that, he felt fine. 

“You thirsty?” Cor asked, pointing to a glass on the desk. 

The boy again, nodded and Cor retrieved the glass, handing it to him. He sipped on the water slowly as he did previously. Cor sat on the foot of the bed this time, watching him as he drank. His face still had an angry look on it and he felt as if he were doing something wrong. 

“I bet you’re wondering what happened to you while you were out, Correct?” 

Again, no answer so Cor just continued. 

“They thought you were going to attack them. They thought your refusal to remove the glasses was a threat. Especially when you stood up. They struck you in the back of the head and you blacked out. They then began their operations. I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone.” 

While he talked about it, he got more angry. The boy just looked down at his legs covered by the blankets, tuning Cor’s story out. What will he do now that he’s defective? Will they destroy him? Will Cor get rid of him? So many questions ran through his head. 

His thoughts were broken up by Cor’s voice. 

“Hey, are you listening to me? Hm, never mind. Forget it...” Cor paused. “Say, I’ve been thinking about your name while you were out, boy...” Cor said. His sentence was broken. 

Just then, he remembered the list Cor had given him and he went to grab it from his pocket but it wasn’t there. He lost the list. He surely would get a correction for that. 

“I-I’m Sorry, Cor. I-I lost the list.” He said, preparing himself for the correction.

Cor only smiled. 

Smiled? Why was he smiling? He lost the list. Why would he be happy about that?

“Don’t worry about it boy. I have it.” Cor pulled the list out of his pocket and relief washed over the boy. Cor handed the list back to him and he looked back over it. He couldn’t comprehend any of the names so how was he supposed to pick one? 

Cor began to speak again. “Like I was saying, I’ve been thinking about what your name should be and I want your input, kid. Okay?” 

Was that an order? If it was, it was an easy one. He just nodded and tuned in to what Cor had to say. 

“I’ve been thinking about the names on the list and I’ve narrowed it down to two. Georgie and Prompto. Which one do you like kid? It’s your name after all.” 

Georgie or Prompto? What do those mean? No, he’s 0595— Ugh, why can’t he remember it. Was he getting a new designation? He didn’t want Cor to get upset with him because he couldn’t make up his mind. Although, he didn’t know what it meant, one really did stand out to him. Prompto. He looked up at Cor, his eyes holding a look of confusion. 

Cor sighed. “ I’m not asking you to choose now, I just want you to thin—“ 

He interrupted Cor. He didn’t mean to, he just wanted Cor to know that he was listening. He was thinking about it. He made his decision. He chose his name. 

“Prompto. I want Prompto.” 

Cor smiled. “Prompto, kid? Then it’s settled...” 

Cor stood up and went to sit back down in his chair aside the bed. He held out a hand to the boy. 

“Its a pleasure to meet you, Prompto.” 

 

Prompto. Prompto. The name started to grow on him the more he said it in his head. My name is Prompto. My name is Prompto. 

"C-Cor? Why Prompto?" The boy asked. He shouldn't be asking questions but he couldn't help it. He wanted to know where his name came from. 

Cor took a deep breath. "Prompto means Quicksilver. Why I chose this exact name is irrelevant right now. I'll tell you more later, okay? Now get some rest. We will be leaving in the morning." Cor stood up, smiled at the boy, then left the room. 

He sounded like he was hiding something. He had a sad ring to his voice when he spoke. Was it because the boy asked the wrong question? Or was his director keeping something from him? Why would his director hide something like that from him? Who was Cor and why did he try to remain so mysterious?


	6. Chapter 6

_"I was suffering from the delusion that it's the thought that counts." -Lionel Shriver_

_He is trying his best. He is trying his best to be the best parental figure he could. I respect him for that. I don't deserve the man he is. I don't deserve, Cor._

~

The morning sun awoke the boy. He raised an arm up to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes. There was a strange smell in the air. A smell that caught him off guard. The smell of something burning. The boy sat up and looked around the room, expecting to find the familiar orange glow of flames but instead, he saw nothing. Nothing unusual. Nothing appeared to be on fire. 

The boy slid out of his bed wearily in hopes that he could actually achieve his destination this time. The last previous occurrences he failed, getting dizzy and sick. His goal was to leave the room to explore the utopia that always caught his attention; outside. His bare feet hit the cool floor and he took a few steps away from the bed. So far so good. He continued to take another couple steps. He was still on his feet. His body was still slightly sore from the surgery but other than that, he felt fine. He took the remaining steps toward the door and reached his arm out toward the handle. His hand wrapped around the metallic knob. A smile was on his face as he did so. He actually made it to the door. 

Although he couldn't tune his hearing or adjust his sight anymore, his sense of smell was all too apparent. The burning smell was more prominent at the door. He wondered if his director, Cor, was okay. The fire must be behind the door. 

The boy peeled the door open slowly. The door eerily creaked with the slow pulling. The boy expected to see clouds of black smoke dancing in the air but once again, that wasn't the case. Still no sign of fire and still no sign of where the putrid smell was coming from. The boy peaked his head out of the door, looking both left and right down the long hallway. No sign of Cor. He made the decision to go left, considering the burning smell was more prominent that way. 

He made his way down the left corridor, forgetting to close his room door behind him. With each step he made, he expected to drop down to the ground in a coughing fit, covering everything in black sticky liquid. But no, he felt and was perfectly fine. 

"Maybe that surgery did do something good." He thought to himself. 

He needed to find his director to thank him. He felt independent now. Like he didn't need anyone's help to get around. He was thankful for that. At the end of the hall was a door. As the boy approached the door, two things caught his attention. One, the smell was to the point where it almost made him gag. The flames were definitely behind this door. And two, he heard... Humming? Why would someone be humming when there was a threat currently in the room? 

He leaned into the door, pressing his ear to it. The humming was coming from a familiar voice. The voice of his director. The boy perked up and pulled the door open quickly. He wanted to help his director, especially after the things he has done for him. The boy ran into into the room and froze. The room was a kitchen, an eating quarters. Next to the stove, stood his director, Cor. He was wearing a pink apron and had two burntpans in each hand. 

"So that's where the smell was coming from..." The boy mumbled to himself. 

Cor turned around at the sound of footsteps and mumbling. 

"Oh, hey Prompto. Good morning, bud..." 

The boy almost completely forgot. His new name was Prompto. It was still so new to him that it felt foreign. 

Cor placed the burnt pans back down on the stove and approached the boy. "I see you made it out okay..." 

He saw that the boys eyes were still locked on the burnt pans. 

"Oh those? See, I was just... Uh... Making you, or I should say, attempting to make you breakfast..." 

The boy didn't understand. He looked away from the pans and up at his director. He was trying to make him food?

Cor took off the pink apron with a slight blush to his face. 

"Ignore the pink... It was the only one they had..." 

The boy's face held a smile. Seeing his rough and tough director in a pink apron, was quite the sight.

"I won't... Tell a soul..." Prompto mustered up, bringing a finger to his lips and zipping an imaginary zipper shut. 

Cor smiled, getting up from his chair and went over to the stove again. "Good. As for food wise, We can always pick something up? Unless you want to eat this crap. Burnt eggs and scorched bacon..." He showed the contents in the pan. They were indeed, scorched. The boy chuckled, bringing a hand to his mouth to hide it. Cor placed the food on a plate and took them over to the boy. The boy took one look at it and pushed the plate away. 

"It's the thought that counts..." He smiled up at his director and thanked him.

Cor reached over and grabbed a piece of scorched bacon, crunching down on it. 

"Say, are you alright to go out? Clyde wants to see how you're doing after the surgery. He's been asking how you're doing." 

The boy nodded his head. He wanted to go out. He wanted to see the world. He wanted to see a world besides mechanics and oil. He wanted to see a world besides death and despair. 

"Yes, Cor." The boy said. 

"Okay then, get ready. I'll clean this up." Cor took the plate of food away from the boy and they both stood up from the table. 

"If you need help, just call but I know you can do it, kiddo..." With a ruffle of the boys's hair, they parted ways, Cor going to clean up the burnt breakfast mess and Prompto went to go get ready to leave. 

Cor threw the dishes into the sink with a sigh. He turned on the faucet and began to heat the water up. He placed his hand under the stream to feel the temperature. Just then, his phone rang. He shook off his hand and pulled the device from his pocket. It read King Regis. He picked it up, putting the phone on speaker and places it on the side of the counter. 

"Your Highness?" Cor said as he began to pour soap on the dishes.

"Cor, you need to get over here right now. Something is wrong." The King said in a panic. 

"What's up? What happened?" Cor said, scrubbing the dishes. 

"Noctis, my son is missing..."

Cor stopped what he was doing and picked up the phone. 

"What do you mean he's missing?! What could have happened to him?" Cor exclaimed.

The King responded. "There was a note left behind... By the Imperial Chancellor. He wants to do an exchange..." 

Cor butted in. "An exchange? What kind of exchange?" 

Just then Prompto came back into the room, stopping in the doorway after hearing his director’s frantic voice. 

"An exchange that involves an imperial boy..." 

Cor's heart dropped. Everything else the King said was a blur. He turned around and locked eyes with Prompto, the imperial boy. 

"Cor?! Hey, Cor! Get your ass down here right now and bring--" 

Cor hung up on him. He dropped his head. He felt conflicted. What should he do? Should he bring Prompto? His duty was to protect the king but at what cost? The cost of this boys life?

Prompto approached his director, sadness filled his eyes. He knew what was coming. He was the cause of the King's sons disappearance. Cor lifted his head as Prompto approached. Prompto mouthed the words, "I'm sorry..." 

~ 

_I caused this disaster. I was made in a lab. I was made to kill. I was made to make his life miserable. I am a monster. I am a monster that will destroy his life._


	7. Chapter 7

_“We all have a monster within; the difference is in degree, not in kind." - Douglas Preston_

All night long Prompto tossed and turned in his bed. He couldn’t sleep. Too much was on his mind. The look of terror on his Director’s face was still vivid in his mind. He messed up somehow. He just knew it. Cor wouldn’t tell him exactly what happened, but he knew it was bad. That was the reason the boy couldn’t sleep. The dark eerie silence of the witching hour didn’t help either. He was alone in this vast, half empty room, lying underneath the shelter of fabric to keep the ever creeping darkness at bay. The longer he thought about Cor, the more his heart would ache. He curled up into a ball, allowing tears to stain his pillow. Quiet, muffled sobs were the only thing that could be heard. He had only known his director for a short while but look at all the stuff that that man has done for him? More than his last director, that’s for sure. He couldn’t bare the thought of losing him. 

He pulled the covers from over his head, allowing the moonlight that seeped through the sheer curtains of his room, to protect him from the otherwise sable surroundings. The boy looked to his left to see an automated clock glowing with red numbers. The clock read: 02:30. The blonde sat up from his cozy sanctuary, slipping his body out from beneath the covers. He had to do something about this restless night. It was his last night with his Director. His last night with Cor. 

He slipped on his slippers and slowly scooted his way to the door. He peeled the door open with a loud and eerie squeak. The darkness from the hallway pranced around him, sending shivers down his back. The surgery helped him be able to eat and walk better, but he couldn’t do basic functions like tuning his hearing or eyesight anymore, and that was a bother to the child. He rubbed his sleep deprived eyes and took a deep breath in. With another step, he shut the bedroom door behind him, allowing the darkness to engulf his body. 

He hadn’t a clue where his Director’s chambers would be. He had never been there, nor had he ever seen it. He decided to go right down the hallway. He slowly made his way through the hall, clinging to the wall for not only stability, but for reassurance. With no light to guide him, he wasn’t sure if he were going the right way or not. The walls felt like they were enclosing in on him. Like the hall stretched on and on forever. Every once and a while, the blonde imperial child would stop, clenching his eyes closed, telling himself that he’d be alright. He just had to find the Director. 

What felt like another hour of walking down this ever-growing hall, his hand felt something cold. Something metal. A doorknob. Prompto felt his heart skip a beat at this. He pressed his ear to the wooden framed door to listen in for any activity. He heard the slight muffled sound of unrecognisable voices coming from the other side followed by instrumentals. It must be a television, the boy thought to himself. He came to the conclusion that this must be Cor’s room. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted the metal knob to the right, then pushed the door open. A faint glow emerged from the room, casting a small amount of light around him. He peered in through the door and into the room. Besides the emulating light from the tv screen, everything else was covered in a blanket of darkness. He took one step inside the room, then another, until his body was comfortably inside the room. He didn’t even bother to close the door behind him. He was too busy scanning his surroundings for the silhouette of his Director. He walked toward the glow of light, hoping that it would help him in his search. His eyes scanned every cloaked figure in the room. A lamp. A side table. A desk. Everything but what he wanted. He turned around to search the other half of the room. Just as he did so, a loud rumbling noise emerged from the room. The sudden noise caused the boy to stumble backward, knocking into the lamp he saw earlier. The figure came down with a crash. The boy clenched his eyes shut. 

“Hm? Wha—?!” 

He heard someone else’s voice immediately once the lamp’s crash had ceased. It was a familiar voice. Prompto opened his eyes to see a silhouette of a person sit up from a bed. The light came on and the boy stood there like a culprit at a crime scene. 

“Prom? What the he— What are you doing up this late? Is something wrong?”

It was him. His Director. 

Cor rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and let out a loud yawn. Prompto didn’t have any words to say to the Director. He didn’t even have a reason to be up this late. He just couldn’t sleep due to thinking too much but he couldn’t put that into words. 

“Come here bud. . . “ 

Cor patted the bed next to him and like an obedient puppy, the boy obeyed, approaching the bed slowly. He hopped up onto the bed, his feet dangling off the edge. He didn’t look at his Director. Not once. His eyes were too busy watching his feet sway back and forth. 

“You scared?” The Director’s voice could be heard again. 

The boy nodded this time, looking up from his feet and into the lethargic eyes of his Director. 

“I-I See. . .” Cor muttered. He scratched the back of his head and thought for a good long minute before coming to a conclusion. “Don’t worry, Papa’s here.” Cor’s arm came around the boy, bringing a warm, welcoming embrace. He pulled Prompto’s petite body up to sit next to him, rocking their bodies to his slow humming. Being in Cor’s embrace, made the blonde feel more comfortable. More safe and secure. Thirty minutes go by and Prom could finally feel his eyes begin to get heavy. His head even began to drop every now and then. Cor took this as a sign to send him to bed. He positioned the boy off his lap, laying Prompto down beside him, tucking him under the covers. Prompto cuddled up beside his Director as sleep began to take him away. Cor reached up for the light switch but not before looking down at the peacefully sleeping boy. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“Goodnight, Prom.” Then out went the lights. 

~ 

The suns rays awoke the blonde abruptly. He looked out the window, the sun was already high in the sky. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. How long was he asleep? He looked to his left, then his right. No sign of his Director anywhere. He slipped out of bed just as the door to the room came flying open. 

“Finally you’re awake. It’s already eleven o’clock. I thought you’d never wake up. . .” The Marshal said with a smirk. 

Prompto smiled back then looked at the ground. 

“Hurry, get dressed. We have places to be, alright? We are already strapped for time.” 

Cor threw the boy a bundle of clothes, the bundle of fabric sprawling out across the bed due to a missed catch from the child. Prompto looked at the clothes and his heart sank. This was his final day with Cor. He looked back up to find his Director had already left the room. He let out a sigh and obeyed his orders. Prompto threw off his sleepwear and put on the mess of clothes that covered the bed. He was getting better at dressing and undressing himself. It was becoming a much less challenging task. After that was over and done, the blonde left the room in search of his Director. He found him in the common room, bags in hand. 

“Come Boy, let’s go. The King is waiting. . .” 

Even Cor’s voice had lost its enthusiasm. It had a somber tone to it now. Now it was confirmed that this was his end. 

“Yes sir.” 

Prompto mustered as he slowly trudged out the door and to the vehicle that would take them to the Citadel. Cor pulled the door open and helped the boy up, buckling him in. He then got into the front seat of the car, pushing the keys into the ignition and began to drive. Prompto looked out the window at the ever amazing outside. This would be the last time he’d see the serene sights the outside world had to offer. He was going to miss it. 

What hours felt like minutes, they pulled up to the Citadel. Cor got out first, followed by the imperial boy. Prompto hopped out and looked up at the enormous tower that was the Citadel . He remembered the first time he came here. This was where he got his surgery. He felt Cor’s arms slip around him to guide him toward the intimidating building. Awaiting at the top of the steps, stood Cid and Clarus. The downcast of feelings filled the surrounding atmosphere as Cor and Prompto approached them. The adults exchanged greetings and the two friends of Cor gave Prompto a sorrow look. 

“You really grew on Cor, y’know that boy?” Cid said. “I was never a fan of ye’ but it’s sad to see ya’ go. . .” 

The imperial boy didn’t even listen. His mind was on other things like where he’d be stationed now? Or who will his next director be? A small push on the shoulder by Cor caused the boy to come back from blank space and return to the present, following the rest of the group. 

The group managed through the long halls of the Citadel, turning down one hallway, then the next. Going left then right. Up then back again until they finally, reached a room with huge arched doorways. Prompto took a big gulp. 

The group of four walked through the gothic doorways and there inside was the throne room. The King, along with two other foreign men with silver hair and light armour on, stood in front of the throne, watching as the group came in. The imperial boy clung to Cor’s leg. 

As they got closer, Prompto noticed something was off. He noticed two figure behind the King. Two children, to be exact. Each one clung to the king’s clock. If it wasn’t for his small size, he would have never noticed. The group stopped when they were about five feet away from the King. The King’s face held a stern, regal look. 

“Cor Leonis, Cid Sophier, And Clarus Amicitia, so glad you could make it.”

The King’s glare moved from the three men to the imperial boy. His lips curled up to form a smile. 

“Prompto, is it? Nice to see you too, boy.” 

His eyes fixed back on the group of men. The group exchanged words but Prompto was focused on other things. He was focused on the two children behind him. Now that they were closer, he could clearly see them. They were both staring right back at him. They both looked about his age. One had silky raven hair and the other had dirty blonde, almost the same colour as his own. The dirty blonde one caught his attention the most. He squinted his eyes in order to get a better look at him. He noticed something peculiar about his appearance. He had red glowing eyes that were very off putting. Once they met Prompto’s stare, he looked away and tuned back into the Adults conversation. 

“. . . Noctis! Come here for a second. . .” 

The King stepped to the side and revealed the two boys behind him. This was the first time the three Crown’s guard soldiers had seen them. They let it a gasp. The Raven haired boy stepped up. He looked ever so regal, just like the king. 

“This is my son, Noctis.” 

The Crown’s guard soldiers bowed their heads to the prince, Prompto following suit. They lifted their heads and almost at the same time, they noticed the other boy. As if in unison, they all let out a gasp. 

Clarus was the one to speak out. 

“What. The. Hell. . .” 

The peculiar looking boy stepped up this time. His red eyes held a deranged look to them. 

“This here, is Loqi. . .” 

At that moment, a light went on in Prompto’s Head. His eyes widened. He had seen this boy before. Back at his previous base. He had seen him with his previous director. He always had the same look on his face. The look of pure crazy. It was all coming back to him now. 

“Wait, those eyes—“ Cor spoke this time. He was indirectly cut off by the King.

“Yes. I knew he’d look familiar to you. He’s an imperial boy. Just like Prompto here.” 

“An Imperial Boy? Are you crazy?!” Cid managed to fit in. 

“Get away from him, your highness! He’s dangerous!” Clarus exclaimed. 

Just then, the two foreign men stepped up, holding out their lances to the group. Cor looked around to see that more men, just like the ones with the lances, begin to close in around them, all holding out the same lance to them. 

“W-What’s going on here?! Who are these people?” Cor spoke as he hid Prompto behind him. 

The King looked down. His face held a look of disgust. “The Imperial Army. They’re here to make the exchange. . .” 

Prompto looked out from behind his Director to catch glimpse of the other imperial boy. His face now held a sinister smirk to it. He gave him a small wave with his hand followed by a maniacal chuckle. 

“Good to see you again, 05953234.”


	8. Chapter 8

_“When you have a dark side, nothing is ever as good as it seems." - Pink_

05953234\. 05953234. The numbers were on repeat in his head. Oh, how he hated the sound of it. The thought of it. It made him want to crumble. He wanted his whole body to self destruct all because of one serial number. But how could he forget it? That number is him and will forever be him. The blonde child looked down at his wrist revealing his barcode identification. He clenched it with anger. He was oblivious to all of the commotion around him. All he could think about was that number. 05953234. 05953234. 

“Prompto! No, Wait!—“ 

He heard a distant voice. He looked up, returning from his own oblivion to realise he was no longer behind Cor. He was no longer in the safety of his Director. Instead, he found himself in the grasp of a different person. It took him not even a second to realise who this person was and the thought made his heart sink. He was now in the grasp of his old director. He was now in the grasp of Verstael. Chills ran down his back as the old man looked down upon the boy with ill intent. 

“My child, you act as if you’re in the hands of a mere stranger. Don’t you remember your creator? Your father?. . .” His voice was slow and had a wicked tone to it. 

Prompto tried his best to pull out of his grasp but was too weak. He couldn’t budge. He began to feel unstable as his surroundings began to tremble. He was getting lifted into the air.

“Prompto!—“ 

It was Cor’s voice he heard. He looked around to find the familiar body to match the voice. He finally found him with a look of betrayal in his eyes. Prompto tried to reach out to him with his free hand as if by some chance, Cor would run up and snatch him from the enemies grasp. He felt hopeless, holding his breath, as he watched Cor get smaller and smaller as the doors to the Imperial Airship come to a close. He let out a sigh as tears stained his cheeks. He fell to his knees, giving in to his somber feelings. 

“Now, now child. This is for the best. You belong to me. You’re my precious creation, after all. . .” Verstael would say with little to no emotion in his voice. “I’ll expect you to get those needless feelings of yours out before we arrive home, my precious clone. If not, you shall expect some. . . dire consequences for your inappropriate behaviour. . .” He’d pause for a short moment to get a good look at the sulking child. “Oh, and don’t forget, you will be punished for running off like that. You know you shouldn’t ride off with strangers, how dangerous!” He let out a small maniacal chuckle, turning his back to the imperial boy. He lifted a hand and with a slight flick of the wrist, he waved goodbye, allowing the boy to sit alone in the room he resided in. Prompto sat there, refusing to move for half an hour. He still was processing what just happened. It all happened so quick. And he missed it all because he was so focused on a silly number. His own silly number. 

He finally looked up from the ground, allowing the fluorescent lights to reflect off his tear stained cheeks. The room was half empty, with nothing but a few benches and shelving units. He slowly stood up to take it all in. He slowly made his way over to one of the metal benches and took a seat just as a thought came to him. If he was going back to his old way of living, what would his Director think now that his ports were gone? He couldn’t do some functions anymore. How could he operate like the others? Would he get discarded? Tossed away? He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought when something caught his eye. He turned his head to the left to see himself. His reflection. He was looking into a mirror. He stood up and approached it slowly out of curiosity. He placed his hand on the glass and just as he did, his reflection did the same. He looked back at the monster in the mirror. While at Cor’s side, he almost completely forgot where he came from. What he was made to do. His reflection was a reminder of that. The red glowing eyes. The collar around his neck. They were all reminders of what he was made for. And that was to make Cor’s life, as well as every Lucian out there, miserable. 

“This. . . Is who I am. . .” The imperial boy spoke slowly and softly. “. . . A monster. . .” 

Seconds after he spoke, the sound of someone clapping could be heard. He looked through the mirror to see someone slowly approaching the monster in the mirror. It was the imperial boy from before. Loqi Tummelt. 

“Bravo, bravo! You’re finally getting it, 05953234.” 

Prompto turned around as the boy approached. He got no closer then five feet from the blonde. Prompto responded with silence. 

“Come now, no words for me? Not even one? What about a hug? No hug for your poor ol’ brother, Loqi?”

The imperial before him caught his attention. 

“B-brother?—“ Prompto stuttered, the word still new to him. 

“Why, Yes. Made together. Programmed together. You and I, we are like two peas in a pod. Born to destroy Insomnia. . . together.” 

Loqi’s words rang through Prompto’s head. It was all too much to take in. First, his separation from Cor, now this? Everything was happening too quickly. The newcomer just couldn’t keep up with it all. 

“Born. . . To destroy. . . Together?” Prompto repeated. 

“Mhmm, why, yes. While you were created after me, we were formed from the same materials. We were both part of the same experiment. Whatever is inside you, is inside me. It’s that simple, really.” 

Loqi was a few years older than him. While Prompto looked about eight, Loqi looked about twelve. That would explain his advancements and extensive knowledge. Before Prompto could reply, Loqi began to speak. 

“I bet you’re wondering what this exchange was all about, Hm? Why we came after you?” 

The blonde nodded his head. 

“Well, to put it simply, I don’t know why. I would have thought he’d leave you to the Lucians. You’re no help to us anymore. You’re defective. They ruined a perfectly good copy. . .” 

No, the Lucians would never hurt him. He wouldn’t let his so called brother’s words mess with his head. Cor helped him. Cor was his saviour. “N-No. that’s not true at a—“ Prompto was cut off by his other half again. 

“You know, dear brother, I was always envious of you. I was always the star. The Director’s favourite. I was his prize. Then you came along. Once you were created, the Director completely changed. His priority was you and to help you advance, leaving me alone to learn with the others. I watched quietly as you rose up, level after level. I almost thought you were going to beat me. Thank god that wasn’t the case. . .” The imperial trailed off. “. . . Anyway, When the base got breached by the Marshal and company, I was thrilled when your ‘Relocation to another base’ failed and you were left to fend for yourself. You were so close to getting your little head dismembered from your body by the Marshal’s little friend. So close, yet there he came. Your Saviour. The Marshal, Cor Leonis. He treated you like you were human. He treated you like you were somebody. I watched as he carried you away like his wounded son and I was left alone, once again. Left alone to take the heat from the Director, and boy, was it an inferno. . .” Loqi finally came to the end to his story, his glowing red eyes lost their tone of craze and now held a look of loneliness. “I was always second to you and I just don’t understand. I don’t see what the Director sees in you. I don’t see what the Marshal sees. When I look at you, I just see. . . Me.” 

Prompto returned his brother’s downcast look. 

“Loqi, I-I—“ 

Just as he spoke, the ship began to tremble again. They were finally landing. The two boys grabbed on to anything they could to steady themselves. The lower they got, the more the airtight doors would open, letting in the scintillating rays of the sun. They both didn’t have time to move from their current positions before their Director came back in. 

“Welcome home, 05953234. Welcome home, my son.” The Director held his arms out, taking in the suns warm rays. He left the ship first, leaving the two boys behind. They both looked at each other, then followed their Director as ordered, walking out of the ship, hand in hand, and into the familiar base. The base in which they were both created. 

~ 

“Imperial Army?! Are you crazy Reg?! What the hell—“ Cid stopped speaking as an imperial soldiers lance pushed up into the tenderness of his neck. He lifted his head, in instinct, to keep the lance from impaling him. 

“I had no other choice. I needed my son. He’s my only heir to the throne. You must understand. I couldn’t bare to lose my son—“ 

“So you expect Cor to give up his?” Clarus’ voice chimed in immediately after the King’s. At Clarus’ words, Cor perked up, his attention now on his brethren. His son? Prompto. . . is his son?

The King could hardly look at the trio. He felt too guilty.  
“I’m sorry, Marshal. You must understand where I come from—“ The King was cut off by another voice. A foreign voice this time. 

“Silence! All of you!. . .” 

A man emerged from behind them. He had an abnormal appearance. He had fried blonde hair that wrapped around his face, forming a small beard and sideburns. He walked with his hands behind his back, his back slightly arched. Everyone’s attention was on him. The trio turned around to welcome his presence with disapproving eyes. 

“I’ll spare you all the pleasantries. This so called exchange is simple. I’m not asking for a war. No bloodshed necessary. Just a son for a son. That is all. The King of Lucis gets his heir back and I, get my experiment back. A fair trade, if you ask me. . .” The foreigner’s voice was slow and unstable. It had a maniacal ring to it that could send chills down anyone’s spine. “Any objections?” 

“You can’t have him back.” Cor was the first to speak. He could feel all the eyes in the room shift from the Imperial foreigner, to himself. He took a deep breath. “I will not let you take Prompto away from me.” Cor had his hand on the oblivious child’s shoulder. 

The foreigner let out a loud cackle. “Ahaha! I knew you’d say that, but I’m afraid you got it all wrong. That boy is mine and I declare that I get him back. Right. This. Instant.”

“Hmph. I promised I’d protect him and that is a promise I can’t let go. I’ll stand by that promise. I’ll stand by him.” Cor wasn’t going to back down. He stood up tall, preparing himself for a battle, he knew it was coming. Just by the look on his friends faces, he knew they knew it too. They all were ready to fight for this child. They’d stand by him. To the end. 

“Heh. . . That’s too bad.” 

With a flick of the Foreigner’s hand, the imperial soldiers that surrounded the group swung their lances back. The group each exchanged a quick glance to each other before pulling their weapons, just in time to parry the soldiers attacks. 

Chaos and blood filled the room as the three of them fought the countless imperial troops that were ordered to attack. The clashing of swords, the slicing of metal, that’s all the King could hear as he watched his three friends, battle for that one boy. The imperial boy. 

From the corner of his eye, Cor saw The King escort his son away from the battle and to safety. He let out a sigh of relief. He swore his life to protect the royal family, and even in these dire moments, he had to abide by it. The trio took down numerous imperials before a small break in the waves occurred. More were approaching fast and the three had only a second to catch their breath. 

“Cor, where’s Prompto?” The Marshal heard his friends voice and his heart sank. He looked behind him to see that Prompto was, in fact, gone. 

“Shit. . .” 

He looked around to try to catch a glimpse of the blonde child, hoping that in the best case scenario, he managed to trail off with Noctis, the King’s Son, to safety. But that wasn’t the case. Cor spotted him just as the Imperial troops reached the trio. He was in the grasp of the enemy. 

“Prompto! No, Wait—!” 

Without a second thought, he raced after Prompto, leaving his two friends to fight the new wave by themselves. His only focus was to get his sunshine back. 

“Prompto!—“ 

The doors to the Airship were closing and he saw the boys arm reach out for him. He reached out his own in return as if by some miracle, he could grab the boy and pull him into his arms, into safety. 

“Prompto! No—“ He shouted again. Even after the doors to the Airship were closed, he didn’t stop running until the ship was completely out of sight. His breathing was heavy as he came to the realisation that his boy, the one he promised to protect, was completely gone. His hands were on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. 

“Marshal!” "Cor!” He heard two voices coming toward him. It was his two friends. They defeated the wave of troops and came to their friends aid. Their faces both held a look of sadness. Of complete sorrow for their pal.

“C-Cor?” Cid’s voice was heard. His voice was quiet and held a hint of sympathy.

“H-He’s gone. . .” Cor replied. He stood up, taking his hands off his knees. His hands laid limp to the side of his body. His eyes looking up at where the Airship once was. “We’ll make the Empire pay for what they did today. . .” Cor’s fists were clenched at his sides. His voice held fury and anger in it. He took a few steps forward, toward the window in which the Airship departed from. “Don’t worry, Prompto. I’ll be there soon. A promise is a promise. . .” The Marshal rose his hand up in the air as if he could touch the remnants of the boy. “I will protect you.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of Verstael’s quotes in this chapter, is taken straight from Episode Prompto. I personally love this quote and I couldn’t resist adding it in.

_“We stop looking for monsters under our beds when we realise they’re inside of us.” - Joker_

This base was all too familiar. He remembered it vividly. The cold cement floors, the iron walls, even the magitek energy tanks. They were all still fresh in his mind. Everytime he caught glimpse of something familiar, a sharp, throbbing pain would flood his head. He clenched his eyes closed and raised a hand up to console the pain. He felt a tightening grip on his other hand. The one that Loqi held. He looked to his left, opening his eyes to see Loqi staring back at him.

"Y-You alright?" His voice was in a whisper so their director didn't hear them babbling. Verstael was strict that way. Any unordly conduct would result in major punishment, and due to the current circumstances, both boys agreed to minimise their punishments as much as they could.

Prompto gave a small nod in return to assure his brother. "Y-Yeah. . . I'm fine." A small smile came after.

They followed their director until they approached two doors. Both doors were side by side together, almost identical. Verstael pushed both doors open, twisting the silver knobs with both of his hands. One squeak could be heard, followed by another. The boys looked into the rooms. There was no light. Just a pit of darkness. Only the light from the hallway illuminated the otherwise dark room.

"Both of you, asleep now. I don't want to hear from you for the rest of the night. I'll deal with you two menaces in the morning.” The Director placed a hand on both of the boys’ shoulders, shoving them forcefully into the two rooms. Both boys let out a groan in unison. “Nighty night, Loqi.” A door could be heard slamming shut. Prompto bit his lip, waiting for the director to dismiss him. Just as he expected, the Director glared into the dark room back at the boy. “Goodnight, Prompto. . .” A few cackles could be heard as his own door slammed shut. The blonde child flinched as it did. That was the first time he had ever heard his old Director call him by that name and he hoped it would be the last too.

He looked around the dark room. This wasn’t his previous quarters. While his previous quarters with this director weren’t as comfortable as the arrangements he had with Cor, they were doable, or at least that’s how he remembered it to be. This room, on the other hand, was different. A change for the worst. The darkness wouldn’t normally be a problem for the child but without his vision tuning, it was almost impossible to find anything. With a sigh, the boy approached a blank wall, leaned his back on it, and slid down, now sitting in a crouched position. He cuddled his knees as he buried his face into them. He contemplated the horrid day he had.

“Hey, P-Prompto? Can y’hear me?”

 

. . .

 

A voice?

“Prompto? Y’there?”

 

. . .

 

The boy lifted his head and looked around for the voice. Was it coming from his room? Was someone else in here?

“PROMPTO!”

He felt the wall in which his back rested upon shake as if someone thumped it from the other side. It made his whole body jump a mile into the air. He was now on his feet, facing the wall, weary to come any closer. When he spoke, his voice was unsteady.

“Y-y-Yeah?. . .”

. . .

Silence. The blonde child tilted his head in curiosity. Who was trying to speak to him? He let his gaze wander from the wall to any object he could possibly make out in the room, looking to find an object worthy of the myserious voice.

“I know you could hear me, 05953234. Don’t play dumb with me now.”

“L-Loqi?” Prompto approached the wall again with caution. He was almost certain that he recognised the voice.

“Yeah. Y’hear me alright? I know these walls are. . . How should I put this? Rather thin. . .”

Prompto was relieved to hear a familiar voice. His voice eased the unsettling darkness of the room a bit. “Yeah. I could hear you just fine.” The corners of his lips formed a small smile. He rested his back against the wall again, returning to his previous position.

“Y’know why we’re here, right? Why we aren’t all cozy and warm, getting recharged and refilled? Hm?”

Prompto could only guess the answer to that. He refused to think about it anymore then he needed to, but Loqi continued.

“We are what he calls ‘failed experiments’. The only reason he wanted you back was because you are part of him. You were made from his own genes. A youthful Verstael. As for myself, I can only presume it’s the same fate. . .” Loqi’s voice dropped with every word until he was barely audible behind the wall.

“Loqi, stop this rig—“

“Listen, Prompto. He wants to destroy us. He wants to make ‘improved copies’ of ourselves. Ones who obey. Ones who have little to no emotion. Pure killing machines. He wants to make us. . . Monsters. . .”

  
“Enough!—“ Prompto couldn’t take this anymore. It was all going to his head way too quickly. His hands were over his ears as if to trap out Loqi’s words of truth. “We are monsters, Loqi. Just look at us. We were created in a lab. A lab in _this_ facility. We were supposed to be those heartless automatons. We were designed to kill but for some odd reason, something clicked in our little heads and we didn’t turn into those moving blood baths. . .” This was the most Prompto had ever spoken. It not only surprised himself, but Loqi as well.

“P-Prompto. . .”

“No, Loqi, listen to me. I saw the outside. I saw what normal humans do. How they act. I saw their daily routine. Children. . . They play in groups. They play games. They run around without a care in the world. And the adults. . . they are off doing normal, humane things, providing support and stability to keep their children safe and happy. . . You see Loqi, the monsters normal children are scared of are different from the ones you and I are scared of. The monsters those children run from, they _can_ see. But. . .” The imperial boy paused, taking a deep breath. “. . .The only monster I try to run from, is me. . .”

 

. . .

 

Silence from the other side. Prompto sat there, thinking over what he just said. Was it too much? He shook his head and stood up from the wall, bringing his conversation with his brother to a close. He tried his best to navigate the room until he found another empty corner, this time, not linked to his siblings. He rested up against this one, slouching down to a comfortable position. A deep sigh later, the golem closed his eyes, trying his best, given the circumstances, to fall asleep.

~

It was another restless night. Even though the sun had awoken everything else, His room had yet to see the suns glow. His surroundings were still cloaked in a blanket of darkness. Everything looked the same. The imperial even began to question the time until he heard a loud banging at his door. He had no time to get up from his current position before a sworn of imperial troops flooded into his room, startling him. Their weapons were raised, ready to fire at anytime.

“Get up, kid. The Chief would like to speak to you. . . Alone. . .”

Another trooper approached the kid, pushing the barrel of his gun underneath the boy’s chin, forcing him to stand up. With no other option, the kid stepped away from the wall. Two more troopers circled behind him, the barrels of their guns forcing into his back, leading him out the door.

He was surrounded by these six troopers. He was enclosed in their circle. He couldn’t get away. He couldn’t even turn his head without them all going berserk. He was being brought to his Director with brute force, but why? If the Director was going to destroy him, why go through drastic measures to keep him from getting away? A slow and fraught walk until the encased boy reached his destination. The doors slid open, pulling apart from each other slowly and hiding away within their cave in the walls. The two frontal troopers broke the circle and the two troopers behind pushed their guns into the child’s back, causing him to stumble forward onto his hands and knees into the room. Then he heard the sound of the doors protruding from their caves to reconnect with each other. They were now closed.

“Well, well, well, you slept in late, boy. How rude is it to make your Director wait? Tsk tsk. . .”

Verstael’s crazed voice could be heard from somewhere in the room. The boy picked his head up to try to find the insane bloke.

“Come, come. Let good ol’ papa have a look at you. . .” He paused, seeing that the imperial child didn’t move a muscle. “. . . And THAT’S an order!”

With no other choice, Prompto stood up quickly and clumsily made his way to his Director, now standing right before him. Verstael sat in an iron throne like seat. He had his arms resting on the armrests, a maniacal, stomach churning grin on his face.

“Such a beautiful experiment, you are. Such a shame it’ll all be put to waste~” The blokes hands raised up to touch the boy’s face, stroking his cheeks with his callused thumbs. The boy couldn’t move anything but his eyes and he chose to look down at his feet. The old coot noticed this and decided to comment on it. “Hmph, at least you’re still obedient.” Just a small tap on the boys’ shoulder sent him stumbling backward. He barley caught himself and thankfully he did, or else correction would be in order.

“Listen Boy, I didn’t go through all this trouble to get you back just to comment on your charming appearance. But oh, how you do resemble me when I was in my youth. . . Anyway, That’s not it at all. You see, boy, You were born from this geniuses genes, born of my own flesh and blood. You were one of a million created to serve our great Empire in the Magitek infantry. You were a great specimen and would have made a great attribute to the infantry if only it weren’t for that damned Lucian. He brainwashed you, boy. Making us look like the bad fellas while our only goal is to take back what’s rightfully ours. Whether that’s peacefully or with brute force. That’s up to my commander and the Lucii to decide.”

The boy tilted his head. He still didn’t know why he was here. Why his Director wanted him back. His voice was petite compared to the Chiefs. He was barely audible.

“S-Sir?. . . W-Why _am_ I here?”

A few seconds of silence before the Chief began to speak.

“Why, that’s a easy one, boy. You’re here for no other reason but to be destroyed. I can’t let filthy Lucian hands get you again. You’re too precious. Too valuable. It’s our only option. And what better place then your place of birth, right? Brought into this world easy enough, you could just as easily be taken out. And oh, how _lovely_ it would be to see your life fade away in the exact same place you saw it fade in! Isn’t that just lovely, my son?”

The Director’s voice sent chills down his spine. So his brother was right. Everything Loqi said last night wasn’t just a tall tale. It was all facts, playing out before his eyes. Right here, right now. He began to feel light headed. His body began to sway.

Verstael looked at the boy with spiteful eyes. “My, my. The Lucians did more then just kidnap you from us. . .” He slowly approached the sickened boy and lifted up his shirt. “So heartbreaking. They already removed the best part.”

Even with the room spinning, Prompto managed to look down and realise what the Director was talking about. He was referring to his missing ports.

“All well, I guess I’ll just have to make my own indentations. . .”

The boy groaned as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. His hands, out of instinct, raced to the area, and to his surprise, he felt the hilt of a blade. His heart sank at this. The crimson colour of blood began to rain down his body, staining his clothes and hands. His eyes darted to his Director, who was staring back at him with a deranged smile and crazed eyes. They only glared at each other for a few seconds before Verstael’s hand returned to the hilt, removing it from the boy’s wounded flesh. Another groan came from the boy as his hands tried their best to stop the blood from leaving his body. He felt the urge to cough, coughing up the same crimson substance as was protruding from his wound. A few chuckled could be heard from the insane bloke before the boy lost consciousness, falling down to his knees, then on his front. A puddle of blood began to surround him.

“Such a naughty boy you are. Sleeping on duty? What ever shall I do with you?”

The bloke shook his head disapprovingly before turning his back to the unconscious boy. “Ta-Ta for now.” A wave of his hand later, and the doors slid open again, providing an exit for the Chief. He stopped halfway out the door to turn back to Prompto. “Oh, and be a good boy and stay.” With that, he walked out, the doors closing behind him, leaving the helpless boy lying in a puddle of his own blood.

_Monsters are real. They just look like people._


	10. Chapter 10

_"I am terrified by this dark thing that sleeps in me" - Sylvia Plath ___

__Darkness. It houses only the most sinister of devils. It's not a home. It's not a sanctuary. Only a pit of unholy trepidation. Once you lose sight of the light, that's when the Prince of Darkness comes out to play. He plays with your mind, feasts on your soul and there is no God around to save you._ _

__~_ _

__"Prompto!"_ _

__The monster called out his name. The boy stopped running and looked around franticly, looking for anywhere to hide from the beast. He was trapped. Surrounded by darkness. He had no where to go. No where to run. He fell to his knees in defeat as the beast approached._ _

__"Prompto, get up, you idiot! Something's wrong!"_ _

__. . ._ _

__The boy sat there weeping helplessly, hoping for a saviour to pull him up and give him the courage to fight the incoming beast. He was weak, a crying mess._ _

__"I swear to the Gods, Prompto, if you don't get up—"_ _

__As the monster got closer and closer, its features were revealed. Razor sharp teeth, stained with the crimson colour of blood. Talon like claws that could skin anyone with just one scratch. It moved like an intoxicated rabid dog, moving to the left then to the right in no consecutive pattern. It was massive in size. A true horror. Five feet away now, the beast held out its hand, its claws filling the distance between the boy and beast. Prompto let out an ear piercing scream as the beasts claws penetrated his body, ripping him apart in a single motion_ _

__. . ._ _

__

__"Prompto!—"_ _

__He felt a sharp pain to his side and shot up in bed, a weak scream escaping his trembling body. He looked around the room. No darkness. No monster. Only Loqi._ _

__Was it all just a dream?_ _

__"Thank goodness you're up. I almost thought I'd have to leave you here."_ _

__Prompto's breathing was heavy, as if he had just ran a marathon. He looked toward his brother and felt a sharp pain in his side. His hands immediately flew to the wounded area. He pulled down the covers, looking down at a bandaged chest wound._ _

__"Careful there, boy. You're still healing. . ."_ _

__"H-Healing?" Prompto managed to say. "Healing from what?"_ _

__Loqi let out a sigh. "Our director. . . You were out for a couple weeks. Almost thought I lost you. . ." His voice held a hint of saddened relief. Then, he shook his head. "There's no time for that now. Something's wrong. There's been a breach of the base. We are under attack."_ _

__The boy perked up. "A-Attack? By who?"_ _

__The other boy shrugged. "Beats me but I heard they are quite barbaric so if you want to get out of here alive, you need to get your sleepy ass out of bed and follow me. From the sound of the commotion outside, it sounds like the intruders aren't too far from our corridor." Loqi tugged on his siblings arm and Prompto let out a groan in pain. "Unless you'd rather take your chances in this room. In that case, you're on your own." Another tug to the arm and the blonde stumbled out of bed, intense pain sweeping over his body, almost bringing him to his knees. Loqi wrapped an arm around his back to brace him. "Come on, 05953234. You're stronger than you look. I know you can do it."_ _

__The two boys slowly made their way to the door. Loqi raised an arm up to turn the doorknob, pushing the door open with care. He peaked his head out of the frame. No chaos yet, but he could hear it. It was close. He turned to look toward Prompto._ _

__"You think you could walk on your own?"_ _

__"I-I can try. . ." Prompto said with uneasiness in his voice._ _

__Loqi carefully let go of his sibling and sighed with relief when Prompto was able to maintain his balance. "Good. Now follow me."_ _

__With a nod of his head, Prompto followed Loqi down the hall. One of his arms were wrapped around his chest wound, trying to ease the pain from moving. Every once and a while, he'd have to hold onto the wall to maintain his balance. The sound of bullets and metal clashing was getting louder and louder with every step they made. They took a left at the intersection._ _

__"Loqi, where exactly are we going? How do we know we aren't just going to run into an active battlezone?" Prompto spoke in a whisper to avoid detection._ _

__"Beats me. I'm just trying to find an exit to this hellhole. I'd rather die trying than to just sit back there and cry. That's asking to be slaughtered. . ." Loqi responded back in a whisper. Another intersection approached and Loqi peaked his head out from the corner. He held his arm out to stop Prompto from walking and Prompto froze. To the left stood a foreign man, his back facing the children. He held a sword covered in a black, sticky substance in one hand. The imperial trooper that he took out laid in a scattered mess on the floor. It's broken parts littered the hall like a scrap yard. Prompto peaked over the corner just as the man began to carry on down the hall, the opposite direction of the kids._ _

__"Thank the Gods. We just missed him." Loqi whispered. After the man disappeared from their view, the boys began their way down the hall, stepping over the scrap metal that littered the floor. "Let's hope we don't stumble upon him or else more than just metal will litter the halls. . ." Prompto shivered at the thought. The two approached a door and decided to go in, giving the foreign assassin some lead. The room was a mess. Everything was scattered everywhere. Documents littered the floor. Cabinet doors ripped off the hinges. Vases of flowers smashed to pieces. The whole room looked like something out of an apocalyptic world._ _

__"Looks like they already searched this room. This must be where that man came from. . ." Prompto observed. The only window into the room was busted open, only one corner of the glass remained in the pane. The two boys peaked out of it. They were on the upper levels of the base. The only way down would be to jump and that would be suicide. "Damn it. We'll have to take the elevator."_ _

__"Elevator? No no no. How do we even know if it's still running?"_ _

__"The only way to find out is if we go and observe, right?" Loqi exclaimed. If it's their only option, then they have no other choice. They'd have to go search for one. With the room examined, the two kids exited and made their way down the hall again. The commotion started to get harder and harder to hear so they figured they were far enough away from the danger for now. Two more halls led to three and still no sign of an elevator._ _

__"God damn it. Where the hell is the elevator?!" Loqi was beginning to get flustered and enraged. So much was happening all at once and he felt so hopeless. What if something were to happen to him? What if something were to happen to Prompto? He pounded his fists against the wall, causing the paintings that managed to stay on the walls to shake._ _

__"Hey now, calm down. We just went the long way, okay? We'll find it. I can promise you that." Prompto placed a hand on his siblings back to console him. "Let's just keep walking okay? Maybe it's just right of he—"_ _

__Prompto froze when he heard footsteps approaching them. Both boys perked up and stared at each other wide eyed. Muffled voices followed the approached steps. Loqi grabbed Prompto's arm and pulled him forward. They both tried to walk as silently as they could. It seemed as if every step they took, the foreigners would be two steps closer. Their voices were getting louder. Too loud for comfort. With no other option, Loqi pulled Prompto into a small indentation in the wall. They were hidden by two metal beams. One boy's back was to one beam, the other to the other beam. Loqi raised an arm up to cover Prompto's heavy breathing._ _

__The two intruders came sauntering down the hall. The volume of their voices made that very clear. Both boys held their breath._ _

__"—Making our lives miserable. About time we returned the damn favour and brought hell upon them." One voice was heard._ _

__"Hell yeah. This being a production facility makes this a cake walk. These bots aren't even close to being fully programmed. They can hardly hold a weapon." Another voice could be heard followed by a chime of laughter. The men got closer and closer until they were in view of the hiding children._ _

__"The robots aren't the worst of it though—"_ _

__The two assassin's stopped in their tracks as another voice could be heard. They turned around._ _

__"Benjamin. 'Bout time we saw your ass. Almost thought you lost it back there." The two visible men began to laugh._ _

__The new assassin seemed unphased. "So you haven't seen it yet. . ."_ _

__The two unnamed assassins looked at each other and spoke in unison. "Seen what, boss?"_ _

__Benjamin finally caught up to the other two. He looked disturbed. His cheeks flustered. He had a tight grip on his swords hilt. "Seen what they do to the kids they kidnap. . ."_ _

__The two boys in hiding looked at each other in shock. Prompto mouthed the word 'kidnap' and Loqi shrugged._ _

__"Kidnap? What the hell you talkin' 'bout, Ben?" An unnamed assassin answered._ _

__"These people kidnap children from their homes, using them as test subjects for their supreme race of automatons. They torment these kids. Locking them up in small cells, feeding them little to nothing. They surgically input ports and mechanical parts into the bodies of these children. Those who survive the procedure are the unlucky ones. They brainwash these kids into not remembering a thing of the past. Only to know one thing and one thing only. And that's to kill the Lucians. . ." The assassin paused due to the disturbed expressions upon the unnamed assassins faces. ". . . They kill their own family. They kill their friends. They are no longer themselves. Just corrupted fighting machines. . ."_ _

__Prompto and Loqi were just as disturbed hearing this. They couldn't believe such a thing could happen here. They knew about the experiments. Their Director told them about it. Told them they were created from his genes. They were created in a lab to serve him. No kidnapping was ever mentioned. There's no way what the assassins were saying is true. There's no way._ _

__"God damn, boss. . ." An unnamed assassin spoke, scratching the back of his head._ _

__"That's why every single one of them must be eliminated. . . Even the test subjects. . ."_ _

__"But, Ben. . . They are still huma—"_ _

__"Doesn't matter. They still know too much. We can't help them. What has been done has been done. We can't reverse it."_ _

__Silence filled the room as the assassins acknowledged their assignment. Then, as a pack of three, they continued down the hall. Once their footsteps were no longer heard, Loqi and Prompto let out a breath._ _

__"What. The. Hell. . ." Loqi managed to say as they both emerged from their cramped hiding place._ _

__"That can't be true. Don't listen to them, Loqi." Prompto tried to console his disturbed sibling._ _

__"We have to save those kids, Prompto. What if that were you and I? We could be in their position. You've seen the outside, Prom. You've seen how children are supposed to be raised. How they are supposed to be treated. We can't just do nothing."_ _

__"What can we do, Loqi? We are just as weak as they are. Nothing we can do can save—"_ _

__Loqi cut off Prompto by grabbing his hand. "Shut up, Blondie. I wasn't asking you. I was telling you." With that, Loqi pulled a hurting Prompto back down the hall, opposite of the way the assassins came from. They walked down four hallways and checked out two more rooms before they finally found the elevator shaft. The two stopped to catch their breath._ _

__"I thought we would never find it. Almost like we were trapped in a box. . ." Loqi spoke through his heavy breathing. Prompto raised a hand and pushed the button, a loud ring followed the push and both boys froze. One looked down one way, the other looked down the opposite. They both sighed when nothing came of the loud noise. What felt like hours, the elevator finally approached, the doors peeling open to reveal a dimly lit lobby. Loqi went in first, followed by Prompto. Prompto made sure the doors closed first before picking a floor. The floor they were on was lit up. Floor number five. He chose the second floor. His insides were churning as the elevator began to move downward. Who knew what would be lurking outside when the doors peeled open? They both held their breath._ _

__The doors opened with a screech. Both boys stood there for a minute before peaking their heads out. Clear. They both began to make their way down the one-way hall. This floor looked untouched. The assassins must not have explored it yet. The floor was awfully quiet. No chaos. No commotion. In perfect standing shape. This hall had no intersections, no doors. It was just a long hallway, or so it seemed. Once at the end, the only option was to turn left, so they did. Not long after, they approached an iron door. The door was almost invisible in the walls. If it weren't for Loqi's keen eyesight, the boys would have passed right by it._ _

__"Should we go inside?" Prompto asked._ _

__"We made it this far, might as well. . ." Loqi responded, raising a hand up to the wrought iron door knob, giving it a small turn. It wouldn't budge. "Damn it. It must be locked from the insi—"_ _

__"Loqi look—" Prompto butted in. He was focused on a production code scanner just to the left of the door. "A scanner." Prompto raised his arm up to the scanner, his production code faced down. A light green flow illuminated as it scanned the barcode. A female robotic voice rang out once finished._ _

__"Serial number 05953234. Access granted."_ _

__Then a pop could be heard. Both boys clenched their eyes as the robot spoke out. It sounded like nails in a chalkboard in their situation._ _

__"Come inside quick." Loqi said, stepping inside the room. Prompto followed, not wanting to risk getting locked out there alone. They closed the door behind them and turned around. What they saw sent them both in to utter shock. Their jaws dropped._ _

__"What. The. Hell. . ."_ _

__The room was full of vats. Vats full of human bodies, children bodies, submerged in a blue liquid. Both Prompto and Loqi approached the rows of vats slowly, completly flabbergasted. "What the hell is this place?. . ." Prompto spoke, raising an arm up to touch one of the vats. Just then, they heard movement from behind one of the vats. Both boys froze. They slowly looked at each other for confirmation that the other heard it too. More shuffling could be heard. Prompto wanted to hightail it out of the room but Loqi, being the courageous one, wanted to explore it. He left Prompto no other choice but to follow behind him. They cautiously looked behind one vat, then the next and so forth, looking for anything that could have possibly made the noise.  
Only two more vats to go. _ _

__Loqi looked behind one while Prompto was advised to look behind the other. He bit his lip as he peered over the vat. His heart jumped out of his chest when an ear piercing scream could be heard. Both Prompto and Loqi screamed in return._ _

__"Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me. . ."_ _

__A foreign voice could be heard stuttering the same phrase over and over again. Prompto peered out from behind his hands to see a young boy, curled up behind the vat. He was eased at the sight of the child. Prompto slowly approached him._ _

__"Hey there, what are you doing here? We won't hurt you. I promise. We were just trying to hide ourselves. . ." Prompto tried his best to make his voice sound calm and collected. Loqi had approached the two at this point and looked down at the weeping foreign child. The child looked up at them both, tears staining his cheeks. He whimpered his words._ _

__"S-s-so you aren't g-g-going to hurt m-me?. . ."_ _

__Loqi answered this time. "No. Not at all. . ." He knelt down the the child's level. "What's your name? I'm Loqi and this is Prompto." Loqi motioned toward his blonde sibling and both boys gave a smile._ _

__The young boy was hesitant at first but finally gave up his name. "C-Cyril. Cyril Meyers."_ _

__"Nice to meet you, Cyril." Prompto spoke now. "What are you doing here at the base?"_ _

__Again, Cyril was reluctant to answer but finally gave in. "T-They brought me here. Took me away from my family. I-I was brought here in a group of f-four. . . Maybe five. . ."_ _

__Prompto tilted his head. He looked around the room in search for the others. "Where are the others?"_ _

__Cyril pointed to the children in the vats, tears stinging his eyes. "I-I didn't know they were in here. I just ran into the closest room I could once the breach happened. . . I-I hadn't a clue that this is what I'd stumble upon. T-t-they were my friends. . ." He began to cry again._ _

__Prompto and Loqi both looked at each other. So what the assassin's were saying was true. The thought sent chills down their spine._ _

__"H-H-How does it look out there? Pretty bad?" Cyril asked, trying to change the subject._ _

__Loqi nodded his head. "Yeah. . .Pretty bad. This floor looks untouched at the moment. I don't know how long it'll stay like that. . . Only the Gods could answer that."_ _

__All boys let out a sigh of relief. They have sanctuary, at least for a little while. They all sat there, huddled together, talking. "So where do you come from?" Prompto asked._ _

__"I-I come from a small town outside of Lucis named Galahd. It's a pretty backwoods place. Lots of trees. Mud. There's also a nice river that I used to play in in the summer. . ." Cyril contributed his story. "When I was captured, I was taken here. Locked in a cell with four other children. . . We. . . Really got to know each other from that. They were. . . Great people. They really were. They all got removed from the cages and I was the only one left. I thought they were all released but. . . Now, I know that wasn't true at all. Come today, I was called out of the cage. I thought it was my turn to go home then, that's when this breach happened. I ran to the nearest room for sanctuary." The boys listened to Cyril's heart clenching story. Next came Prompto, contributing his story about Cor and his thoughts on the outside world. Loqi was the only one without a story. He only mentioned how saddened he was when he watched Cor take Prompto away. He felt abandoned. Scared. Alone._ _

__After all of them shared their stories, almost on cue, they heard voices from the other side of the door. All three boys froze. They looked at each other for confirmation. The voices got louder and louder until they were just outside the door now. It was the same voices from before. Cyril began to break into tears, leading Loqi to lean over and cover his mouth._ _

__"It's okay, Cyril. The doors locked. We had to use our production codes to get in." Prompto placed a hand on Cyril shoulder for condolence._ _

__Cyril shook his head and slowly removed Loqi's hand from his mouth. His voice was back to whimpering. He tried his best to speak quietly. "N-n-no. I-I-I had to do that. You have to lock it from the inside. . ." He rose a hand to point to the production scanner in the corner of the room. The light green glow illuminating from it. Prompto's heart sank. How didn't he see that? They were so shocked by the contents of the room they completely forgot to lock the door. He was eating himself up inside._ _

__"You're telling us that now?!" Loqi growled._ _

__They heard the doorknob turn and Loqi sprang right into action, escorting Prompto and Cyril underneath a control desk just as the door flung open. He returned his hand to Cyril's mouth to mask his heavy breathing._ _

__"Good god. What the hell is this place?!" An assassin's voice could be heard._ _

__"This is the room I was tellin' you about. This is where those sick fucks hide those children. . ."_ _

__"I gotta give you credit, boss. You know exactly how to end a party~" another voice could be heard before sounds of gunshots. Glass shattered, littering the floor. They were breaking the vats. Cyril began to cry harder at this. The assassins were breaking the vats and slicing through the already soft flesh of the children. The final vat broke and a maniacal laughter filled the room._ _

__"Ahaha! Come out little kiddos. I know there's more of ye'."_ _

__"Phil, you go back out and stand guard. Gregoire, you go search for other rooms. Y'know these sick bastards are hiding these kids somewhere."_ _

__"You got it boss." Both assassins spoke in unison before retreating to go do their duties, leaving the leader of the trio, in search of the room._ _

__Loqi cursed under his breath, wishing he picked a better spot to his his brother. His heart was sinking at the thought of being found. Just by their conversation, he knew they'd have no mercy for them. Footsteps came closer and closer, making all boys hold their breath._ _

__"I know you're in here. . ." Benjamin's voice was heard just opposite of where the boys are. Prompto watched as he looked under the opposite control desk and but his lip. He wanted to scream. He wanted to run. He felt so hopeless. Benjamin scanned the room in their direction and his eyes locked with Prompto's. A deranged grin grew on his face._ _

__"There you are, kiddos. Come out, no need to be scared." He slowly approached the control desk and stood right before it, before crouching down. "I said come OUT!" He yanked at Cyril's arm, causing him to tumble out from underneath the desk. He began to scream. The assassin smiled at him with a sinister grin. "You're a screamer 'eh? I can put an end to that—"_ _

__"No. . . NO—" Loqi reached out toward Cyril, yelling just as the assassins blade penetrated Cyrils body, emerging through the other side. Cyril hung lifeless on his weapon before Benjamin removed his sword. Cyril's body falling to the ground._ _

__"NO! You-You bastard!—" Loqi yelled, tears welling in his eyes. Prompto was focused on the lifeless body of the boy they promised safety to. He mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' over and over again._ _

__"Aw. Was that your little buddy? Don't worry, there's plenty of fun left here. No need to feel left out. . ."_ _

__"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU SICK, SICK BASTARD!" Loqi crawled out from underneath the desk._ _

__"Loqi no!—" Prompto crawled out after him. He grabbed his brother's arm, trying to encourage him to run for it._ _

__"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU STRAIGHT UP KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM—" Loqi refused to move. It was hopeless at this point. No matter what they did, they'd end up like Cyril, a lifeless boy on the ground. Laughter could be heard amongst Loqi's screaming._ _

__"Ahaha! You scared to die, little one? Scared to end up like your little friend? Well. . . You better pray to your Gods now boys."_ _

__The assassin raised his sword above the two boys. Prompto's eyes widened as he looked at his reflection in the killers blade. Benjamin swung his sword down and Prompto clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the impact._ _

__"ARGH!—"_ _

__The sound of a sword hitting the ground caused Prompto to slowly open an eye. The assassins eyes were wide. The life draining from his body. He was met with the same fate. Impaled by a sword. The weapon was removed and the assassin fell to his knees, coughing up blood._ _

__"N-no. . ."_ _

__The assassins voice was weak. Once on his knees, the perpetrator was revealed. Cor Leonis stood before the man, wiping his blood off his katana with his glove._ _

__"Heh. Gods you say?. . ."_ _

__He pushed his katana back into the sheath and smiled down at the lifeless body._ _

__"What's a God to a non-believer?"_ _


	11. Chapter 11

_“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” ~ Charles R. Swindoll_

_It all seemed so fictional. So spurious. It all felt like a lucid nightmare where the deeper the slumber, the deeper they fell into the depths of the unavoidable sable abyss, unable to grasp anything or anyone. They had seen so much blood. So much death. Even their own lives were like playing cards on a table, ready to get gambled away at any moment. But then he came. The light within the darkness. A soldier. An army of one. Their saviour._

 

The boys stood frozen, mouths agape, still processing what just happened. Were they dead? Was this all just a dream? The blonde child had too many emotions flowing all at once. Too many to process. He didn't know if he should be happy or scared that his protector took a man's life right before him. His heart raced a hundred miles a minute. He felt as if he had just sprinted the entire length of a marathon. Prompto’s pale coloured eyes shifted toward Loqi’s. Their expressions were shared. Before either of them had time to speak, Cor crouched down to their level, wrapping both of his arms around them, pulling them in close. 

“You two alright? He didn't harm you, did he?”

Loqi, being the more outspoken one of the two, spoke up first. “N-No. . . We are fine. . .” He had a quiver in his voice causing him to stutter.. 

“Who are you?” Cor’s eyes locked with Loqi’s. 

“Me? I- uh. . .” Loqi desperately tried to grasp for words. “Just consider me a brother to Prompto. The particulars don’t matter right now. All that matters is that I’m on Prompto’s side. . .” 

Prompto nodded his head. “He’s the one who tried to help me escape. He dragged me out of that bedroom just in time before those assassins showed up. If it wasn't for my mistake in forgetting to lock that door. . .” Prompto’s words got choked up by guilt and sadness. 

“It’s alright Prompto. All that matters is that you're safe now. . .” Cor responded in a low, melancholic tone. “I’m sorry I didn't get here sooner. I could have saved him.” All three of their gazes were on the innocent boys’ lifeless body. A life taken too soon. And before tainted by the Imperials. He could have had a chance at a happy life. 

“H-His name was Cyril. . . Cyril Meyers.” Loqi’s voice could be heard. Cor turned his head to face the two boys. Both had tears streaming down their pale cheeks. The Immortal could feel the sorrow in the air. 

“Was he a friend of yours?” Cor responded, softly. Both boys nodded their heads. This time, Prompto was the one to speak. 

“He had been taken here against his own will, like all of us. The only difference between us and Cyril was that his body had not been tainted with the automatons like ours. He had a chance in this world. Loqi and I. . .” The blonde paused, his pale gaze locking with that of Loqi’s. “. . . will never function in this world like you humans. We are only programmed to kill, nothing else.” 

Cor’s infamous stern tone of voice returned now, bringing a small sense of relief to Prompto. “Now what makes you say that? You two look like any reasonable child to me.” 

“But that’s where our normalities end. I’ve seen the world outside these bases. Everyone, people of all ages and colours, they all come together to form a society. They all cooperate with each other, making a living to keep not only themselves happy and healthy, but also their loved ones. And then we imperial troops come in and destroy the sanctuary you’ve all built. We destroy your peace and security. We bring bloodshed, not happiness. . .” Prompto’s sky like eyes met with Cor’s. “What makes Loqi and I any different from the man who killed Cyril? As time passes and our bodies mature and grow, we will join that fleet. We will become those devils that feast on the pain and suffering of others. . . That day. . . the very first day we met, I nearly killed you out of instinct. That is what I’m bred to do, sir- I mean, Cor. . . I’m bred to kill.” 

“Well, then I suppose I see potential in a ‘natural-born killer’. You may have not seen it from the short trips we’ve made together, but this world we live in, is not all sunshine and rainbows like you perceive it to be. The world is not much different from this base. Us humans like to put on our rose coloured glasses and pretend everything is fine. Reality is, Us humans are just like you Imperials. We strive for power. We even going as far as to threaten and even injure innocent people just to have our hands grasp at power. How I see it, we are all devils. You and. . .” Cor studied the other boy closely. 

“Loqi! The names’ Loqi!” 

“You and Loqi here, just have the short end of the stick.” Cor stood up, stretching his arms up toward the ceiling. His face held a small smile. “Now, we can talk more about this later. We need to get out of here before more of those bastards show up looking for trouble.”

The boys agreed. Cor turned on his heels and began to make his way toward the room entrance. “Oh, and Prompto?” Cor spoke without facing the two boys.

“Yes sir?” Prompto perked up and responded almost instantaneous to Cor’s voice. 

“I will make you a deal. This journey we now have to face. It won't be easy. But I will promise to protect you if the devil comes knocking at your door. The only thing I ask of you is, and this is an order, that you stand by me through it all. I see a future in you, boy. I want to make sure you get to see it.”

Prompto stumbled with his words. His superior was actually giving him an order. “Y-Yes sir! I will stand by you.”

“Good. . .” 

The two children followed Prompto’s Director closely behind. Loqi scratched the back of his head and leaned over to Prompto’s ear, whispering quietly. “Your superior seems to be putting a lot of courage in you. Personally, I can't see why. Maybe he feels bad for you. . . but you’re lucky I'm here! It is I, Loqi Tummelt, here to support the weight on your scrawny little shoulders! Heh!” Loqi boasted as he puffed his chest out. Prompto responded with a small chuckle and a playful hit to Loqi’s arm. “Who said you were part of the deal?” Loqi responded with a low growl which made Prompto go into a small fit of laughter. At the sound of this, Cor’s smile grew in size. 

~

The trio made their way through the labyrinth of long and narrow hallways until they found the entryway. The entryway was a small room with the ceilings reaching up to the sky. On the other side sat a secured door that needed a passcode for entry. The walls were metal plated, which added a dark silver glow to the room. If it wasn't for a skylight and the green glow of the keypad, the room would be sable in hue. Cor, with the two boys at his heels, made his way to the keypad and typed a set of eight numbers. ‘05953234 ACCESS GRANTED’. The doors slid open slowly with a loud grinding sound as the lock disabled. Loqi’s voice rang out. It held a quizzical tone. “Hey, Director, How’d you know Prompto’s serial number? You memorised it?” 

Cor responded not a minute after. “Well, how can I not when he mumbles it all night long in his sleep.” The directors words caused Prompto’s pale cheeks to blush. The bright light of the sun masked their view of the world momentarily as their eyes adjusted. Prompto rubbed his, the sudden change of light exposure made them throb. He still wasn't used to not being able to auto adjust himself due to the operation Cor put him through not that long ago. Loqi, on the other hand, had not undergone such drastic changes. Cor grabbed Prompto’s shoulder, pulling him forward with him since he was too busy rubbing his eyes. 

“Hey hey hey, would you look who it is? Mister Immortal and his golden boy.”

“Look, he has another one with him.”

“Cor, y’got another one of the Imperial fella’s with ya’?”

Two familiar voices could be heard from from a distance. Prompto took his hands away from his eyes to match the voices with the faces. Down the marbled steps of the sidewalk stood Clarus Amicitia and Cid Sophier. They both stood out by the hood of a red truck. While Prompto wasn't all too keen with these two men, just seeing two more familiar faces was enough to put him at ease. The whole time they were making their way through the labyrinth of halls in the base, he couldn't shake the thought that his previous director could make an appearance at anytime, snatching him away from Cor and Loqi, thereby breaking his order. He couldn't be more relieved that that wasn't the case. As the three got closer to the truck, Clarus spoke up.

“I see you had no trouble going in and finding that boy of yours. . .” 

Cor responded, his voice relaxed. “It was a cake walk. Slaughtering Imperial dummies is something I can do in my sleep. . .” 

Cid spoke this time. “Well, I’m glad you came back all in one piece. I was weary of your orders to stay out here. Y’never know what could be lurking inside these bases. Even an immortal soldier like you has to have a breaking point, y’know?. . .” His eyes locked with Loqi’s. “I see ya’ caught another imperial kid. What’er ya’ plannin’ on doin’ with all these children? Settin’ up an orphanage?”

Cor only responded with a small chuckle before changing the subject. “This here is Loqi. I found him crouched down with Prompto hiding from a hired assassin. If I had not come when I did, both of these boys would have been rotting corpses.”

“A hired assassin?” Clarus asked, tilting his head. “In an Imperial base?”

“I’m just as dumbfounded as you are. My only guess is that they were after something or someone in that base. The only question is who or what could it have been?” Cor took hold of both boys’ shoulders. “Anyhow, we better get out of here before reinforcements come. There’s not a doubt in my mind that they knew I was coming. They just didn't know when. And now that we have two of their prized future soldiers. . .” His gaze fell on the children. “It’s like firing two headshots at that vindictive bastard, Verstael. This war has been started, and we are on the winning side.”

“Awwwhhh yeah! Finally we have a lead for once!” Cid slammed his hands on the hood of the truck.

“But do we know that this second boy is trustworthy? We had this debate before when you scooped up Prompto. You better know what you're getting yourself into, Cor Leonis. This is basically wetting all of your matches with hopes they all light. Sometimes it's better to be the bad guy, Cor. You can’t always play the hero. . .” Clarus said as he climbed into the passenger seat of the truck. “When we get back to the castle, we will question this boy, drain all of his knowledge. We need to get info if we want to remain on the winners side.”

Cid watched Clarus as he hopped in, causing him to prance over to the drivers side of the car, pulling the door open and hopping inside. “Let’s skedaddle now while we are in the lead. We could collect information from that other boy when we get back.”

Cor let out a long sigh then escorted the boys into the truck, buckling them up before hopping in between them both. He reached over Prompto in order the close the door. “Ready. . . Let’s go, Cid.” 

“Say no more!” Cid responded. He revved the engine for a second before accelerating, shifting up the gears until they were at full speed. Loqi felt an ache in his chest as he looked behind him through the window. His ‘home’ getting smaller and smaller as the car accelerated away from it. The movement of the car as well as seeing the only home he remembers disappear made him feel nauseous. He closed his eyes to keep him from spitting out sustenance everywhere. Cor glanced down at him and noticed the nauseous look on his face. He couldn't help but smile at the sight. It brought back memories of when he first rescued Prompto. The immortal placed an arm around Loqi to comfort him. “It’s okay, Loqi. Freedom is a scary thing. . .”

~

The room was pitched black. No light illuminated it. The only window in the room was cloaked by raven coloured blinds. Verstael stood at this window, two bony fingers peeled the blinds down a crack, just enough for his pale coloured eyes to peer through. He had been watching since the arrival of the red truck. He watched as the immortal stormed into his facility. He watched as the confidence faded to nervousness on the two men’s faces with each passing minute Cor had been gone. He even watched as the Immortal reappeared along with two of his prized boys. He had watched all of this with a maniacal grin on his face. He hadn't said a word throughout this duration. It was like he had been watching a live action film. The truck sped off and with a flick of his fingers, he sent the raven coloured blinds back together, shielding the sun’s light that peeked in as he peeked out. He clenched his bony hands at his sides, holding in the raging flame of anger that was built up inside of him He knew the opposition was now on the winning side. They made their move. It was now his turn to move his pieces. And his piece of choice; the King. 

“Cor Leonis. . . You regained 05953234 from me. You took 05964721 from me now. Two consecutive moves are against the rules, Immortal Cor. I feel saddened I don’t have a loyal opponent in this game. . .” Just then, the door to the room flung open, casting a white glow in the otherwise dark room. A panicked woman, at the age of 30 stared back at Verstael with horrified eyes. “Verstael, sir. The Immortal took 05964721 from us! You're needed in the lobby. We need to regroup and see how many other subjects are missing. . . ” Her words were slowed due to heavy, panicked breathing. 

Verstael spoke rather calmly despite the hectic situation they were in. That same maniacal smile returned to his face, dancing across his lips. His appearance sent chills down the woman’s spine. 

“Don’t worry, my dear Veronica. Shadows are casted as the sun rises. . .

Veronica stared at him puzzled before turning her back to him. “Meet us there in five!”

Verstael stood there watching her run down the halls before the closing door blocked his view, returning the shadowy darkness to the room. “Never turn your back to the shadows.”


End file.
